Why Does My Heart Cry?
by dazzleme90
Summary: The story of Lily Evans and James Potter. Seventh year has finally come, and changes are coming that no one expected.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclamer: I do not own any of the characters or places created by J.K. Rowling in the Harry Potter series**

**Quick note: I started this story over a year ago and have nearly completed it. I won't be making any changes to the story, but if there are any big mistakes, such as I accidentally posted something twice or mixed up characters, please let me know and I'll fix them! Now on with the story...**

"N-no... s-stop... please stop... NO!"

"Lily, wake up. You're going to be late!" Mrs. Evans nudged Lily's shoulder, trying to wake her up. Rubbing her eyes, Lily sat up looking around still slightly shaking. Her mother's hand was still resting upon her shoulder. "Are you alright sweetie?" She asked, looking at her daughter with concern.  
"Fine mom. Just had a bad dream." Lily responded nodding her head.  
"Ok, well get dressed and bring your suitcase downstairs. We have to leave in about 20 minutes to be on time." Mrs. Evans told her daughter, leaving the room.

Sitting up, Lily forced herself out of bed, re-playing her nightmare in her head over and over. She walked over to her window and opened it, letting in a cool breeze and looked out into the cloudy sky. It was going to be a dreary day, and she knew the train ride was going to feel like forever. But it was her last year of school. Her last year of riding the train to the magical school of Hogwarts, where you could never predict what tomorrow would bring. There was always something new going on. From having your classmates blow up objects in your face without warning, to trolls roaming the corridors, you never knew what was next. As Lily tried to drown out her awful nightmare with six years of happy thoughts from Hogwarts, she placed the final remaining objects into her suitcase and brought it downstairs.

Downstairs she was greeted by her mother and father, who was on his way out the door. There was no time to sit down and have a nice breakfast before she left because her father had to leave to work, and if they didn't leave soon, she would miss the train. Saying goodbye to her father, Lily grabbed a bagel out of the kitchen then followed her mother out of the house, who had already placed her trunk in the car. As they pulled out of the driveway Lily took one last look of her house for she would not see it until Christmas break.

They arrived at the station with 5 minutes to spare. Lily gave her mother a big hug.  
"Study hard, stay safe, and have fun sweetie." Mrs. Evans said while hugging Lily.  
"I'll try mom." Lily responded, letting go of her mom.  
"Write me when you get there and every day!"  
Lily laughed. "Right mom." She said with sarcasm in her voice. Mrs. Evans pulled Lily into one last hug then shooed Lily off onto the train.

Once onboard, Lily found an empty compartment and pulled out Hogwarts, A History. Before opening the book, she looked out the window and waved to her mother one last time as the train took off. Once they started moving, Lily opened her book to where she last left off and began reading. Not five minutes had passed when there was a knock on the compartment door. She looked up as it slid open and heard a voice.  
"Mind if I join you?"

Lily stared at the person for a minute in a trance. She finally snapped out of it, shaking her head.  
"Of course." She said, with a quiet voice.

The person sat on the seat opposite of her. He looked at her and caught her eye. They sat there for a moment before he spoke.

"Lily, I'm so sorry about what happene..."  
"No, it wasn't your fault. If it wasn't for you, I probably wouldn't be here." She responded, giving him half a smile.  
"Lily, I'm sorry about everything. About what happened fifth year, and everything after that. I can't believe I lost such a great friendship with you. And if you can't forgive me, then I'll understand. I just wanted you to know that I am sincerely sorry about everything." He said, bowing his head and closing his eyes.

They sat there for a few minutes while Lily thought about everything he had just said. Finally, she reached out her hand and put it on his. He looked up into her smiling face, hoping that it meant that she forgave him.

"Sev, you were my best friend. We told each other everything. Yea, I've gotten new girlfriends to talk to, but it just isn't the same. I've missed talking to you." Lily responded, tilting her head, then nodding as she finished talking "And yes, I accept your apology."

Snape was so happy that he couldn't control himself. He leaped up and pulled Lily into an enormous bear hug. They were both laughing and enjoying the fact that they were friends again when the compartment door opened again.

"He-hem..." The person said, looking at the two figures embracing in a tight hug. "Sorry to interrupt this love fest, but Lily, James needs to see you."  
"Sirius, why in the world would you think I would just get up and find James because he needs to see me?" Lily responded in an annoyed voice.  
"Well... maybe you changed your mind this summer and now have an undying love for him." Sirius smirked. Lily looked about ready to hit Sirius, so finally he added, "Your Head Girl. He's Head Boy. Did you already forget about your meeting?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.  
"Shoot!" Lily hit her forehead with the palm of her hand. "I totally forgot. Sorry Sev, I'll be back later." She said with an apologetic look on her face.

Snape nodded and Lily left the compartment, racing down the hallway to try not to be as late as she already was. As soon as she was out of ear sight, Sirius shot a glance at Snape.

"And what makes you think you're allowed to talk to her again?" Sirius glared.  
"Uh... hello. I'm allowed to talk to whoever I want." Snape shot back.  
"Why would Lily ever want to talk to you?"  
"Maybe because we're friends again?"

Sirius gave him a questioning look. Could they really be friends again. Even after what happened fifth year? He shook his head.

"Yea, well, you better watch it." Sirius said.  
"Or what?" Snape replied.  
"She's James's."  
"She is not owned by James. She can talk to whomever she wants."  
"You better back off."  
"Or what?"

At the same time they both took out their wands, glaring at each other. About ready to curse one another, another voice came.

"What's going on here?"

Sirius spun around. "Ol' snivilus here is messin around with James's girl, Moony."  
"First of all, she is NOT James's girl. If I recall right, she has turned him down every time he has asked her out. And second of all, we're just FRIENDS." Snape responded, his temper rising.  
"What makes you think she would ever want to be friends with you again?! After what happened fifth year..." Sirius yelled.  
"Well if you must know, she has forgiven me. And by the way Sirius, people DO grow up. Maybe you should try it sometime." Snape smirked.

Sirius was about to lunge at Snape, but Remus grabbed him by the shoulder first.

"Let's just go." Remus said.

Sirius gave Snape one last dirty look and followed Remus out of the compartment. Snape sat down and rested his head against the window, wishing that Lily would be back soon. Just as Snape realized that he was still tightly clutching his wand, the compartment door opened again. Stuffing it away as quickly as he could, Lily entered the compartment with her two best girlfriends, Johanna and Adrianna, who were also seventh years in Gryffindor. Johanna had beautiful long, wavy black hair and green eyes. She was called Jo by almost all of her classmates. Johanna was the kind of girl who could get whatever guy she wanted. Adrianna had blond hair that went just below her shoulders. Her classmates usually called her Adrian. She was the more athletic out of the three friends, and was a chaser on the gryffindor quidditch team. They were laughing at Lily as they entered.

"I can't believe it." Lily shook her head.  
"It's like fate!" Adrian shouted, throwing her hands up in the air.  
"I think you two would look cute together." Jo said in a matter-of-factly tone.

Lily glared at them for a moment and sat down next to Snape.

"Sev, these are my friend, Jo and Adrian. Jo and Adrian, this is my really good friend Severus." Lily said, introducing her friends.  
"It's nice to meet you." Snape said, giving half a smile. Looking out the window we spoke again. "We're gettin close. We better start changing. I'll talk to you later Lily."

Lily and Snape said good-bye and he left the compartment and shut the door. Once down the hallway, Jo spoke.

"Isn't he the guy you were tellin us about?" She asked.  
"Yea, but he's changed. And I can tell." Lily responded.  
"He still seems a little... strange to me." Adrian said, trying to find the right words to say.  
"He's really nice, trust me." Lily said as she pulled out her robes.

Jo and Adrian gave each other questioning looks but shrugged it off and got out their robes.


	2. Chapter 2

The trip through Hogsmead seemed to take forever. Lily couldn't find Snape, and the only carriage left ended up having James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter already in it.

"Come ON Lily!" Jo shouted, pulling Lily by the arm.  
"No, that's ok. I'm fine with walking." Lily responded, really not wanting to share a carriage with James, for she was not in the mood for being asked out.  
"Aw... what's the matter Lilykins? I won't bite." James said, then point to Sirius he added, "But Padfoot might."

James smirked at Sirius, and while Sirius tried his hardest not to grin, he punched James in the arm. Pushing Lily from behind, Adrian and Jo finally got Lily to go in the carriage. Luckily, she was able to sit next to Remus, who was the only one of the Marauders group who she could actually stand. Right away, they began discussing books that they had read over the summer. Jo and Adrian began discussing their summer romances, while Sirius and James discussed quidditch. Peter just sat there, trying to join in any conversation he could. Finally they reached the school and walked inside, sitting at their house tables. Lily sat between Adrian and Jo, while the Marauders sat directly across from them. After sorting all of the first years, the feast began. Adrian and Jo were joined by Lily in their gossiping of summer romances while Sirius and James were in deep conversation.

"What?!" James shouted, louder than he meant and a few heads turned his way. Looking at Lily, he saw her waving at someone behind him. Turning around, he saw Snape returning a wave.  
"Yea, I know. They were sharing the same compartment on the train too." Sirius responded to his cold look.

Looking at Lily now, who was still talking with Jo and Adrian, he thought for a moment then spoke.

"Hey Lily!" He said.

Turning away from her laughing friends, she answered.

"Yea?"  
"What's up with you and Snivilus?"  
"Why does it matter to you?" She questioned with a raised eyebrow.  
"I hear your friends again?!"  
"So what if we are? Not like it's hurting you."

But James knew better. This was the year. It had to be. And he would stop at nothing until he got his shot with Lily. But with Snape in the picture now, it may be harder to do than he would have imagined.

"After what he did. What he called you. And your gonna be friends with him again?"  
"He apologized and has changed. And therefore, I have forgiven him."  
"I still don't trust him."  
"Well thank you for your concern, but I do trust him. So just drop it." Lily said with force, causing James to back away from the table a little.

While Lily went back to talking with Adrian and Jo, James sat there in thought, looking from Snape to Lily. Why in the world would she forgive him now? He's been trying to get her forgiveness since he called her that horrible name, and all of a sudden she forgave him? It just didn't make sense. He didn't know how long he was in his trance, but by the time he snapped back into it, the meal was cleared up and Dumbledore was finishing his speech. It was them time to go up to his new dorm, which he was going to be sharing with Lily. Maybe he would be able to talk to her there. He shook his head and ruffled his hair as he began to climb the steps to his new dorm.

After taking a shower, James sat himself down on a large comfy red sofa and stared out the window at the dark, rainy sky, while fiddling with his wand. He was waiting for Lily to come up so he could point out the fact that they would be sharing the same dorm for the rest of the year. Though their dorm wasn't as big as the Gryffindor tower, it was good size. The main room that you walked into straightaway was almost as big as the Gryffindor common room. The walls were grey, but a huge Gryffindor banner was place right over the door. There was a fireplace and a large window on each side of the fireplace, overlooking Hogwarts grounds. If you looked hard enough, you could even see the quidditch pitch. There was a large red sofa in front of the fireplace and a love-seat on either side of it. To the right of the door, there was another room that led to a master bathroom, with a good sized shower, two mirrors, two sinks, and a silver toilet. (James noticed while he was taking a shower that there were even two red bathrobes, one with James's name stitched in, and the other with Lily's.) To the left of the door was what seemed a very old grandfather clock, next to what looked like an old collection of books stacked messily on a bookshelf. Across the room were two hallways. Each ending in a bedroom. They were both the same, having a large window overlooking the ground and a king-sized bed. In their bedrooms, there was another door that led to a large walk in closet. It was almost like they were living like royalty.

James sat on the sofa, wondering where Lily was when he heard a knock on the door. He looked at the clock as it read 11 p.m. Why was she out of bed so late, and why in the world was she knocking on the door to her own room. Getting out of his seat he walked across the floor and opened the door to find not one figure standing at the door, but three.

"James!" They all said at once.  
"What are you guys doing here?" James questioned.  
"We wanted to come visit you, seeing as your no longer sharing a room with us. So you gonna show us around?" Sirius asked.

James grinned and moved out of the doorway, to let his friends inside.

"Jeeze! You definitely got it good here!" Sirius exclaimed, examining the room.  
"Look at all these books!" Remus said, running his finger over each title.

James and Sirius rolled their eyes laughing, while Peter stood there, trying to take in the room. After giving them the grand tour, they sat down on the sofas, talking.

"So where exactly is Lily?" Remus asked.  
"No clue." James replied.

Sirius raised his eyebrow.

"You don't think she's with ol' Snivilus again, do you?" He asked. All eyes were on James.  
"I don't know." He responded, more curious now about her whereabouts.  
"So what do you have planned for him this year?" Sirius asked.  
"Well, I really haven't given it much thought. But now that he's taken such an interest in Lily, I'm gonna have to come up with something good." James said, as the door opened.

"I heard my name. What are you talking about?" Lily said, opening the door, followed by Jo and Adrian.  
"Why do you have to come up with something good?" Adrian asked.

Remus and Sirius looked at James, knowing that now that Lily and Snape were friends, he was going to have to be careful about what he does to Snape, because even when they weren't friends, she still didn't think him torturing Snape was very amusing. Peter was looking from James to the girls, back to James, opened mouthed.

"I was saying... that I have to think of a good way to ask Lily out so she will go out with me." He grinned.

Sirius and Remus raised their eyes and grinned, mentally saying good one to James. James grinned back.

"Ugh... so typical." Jo said, shaking her head as Adrian laughed.  
"Well how about something not so typical then?" Sirius started. Jo looked at him, waiting to hear what he had to say before she snapped back at him. In the past, they really hadn't gotten along. "How about you go out with me?" Sirius smirked as Jo looked taken back.  
"What?! Ew... No." She replied.  
"How come? I'm good looking, you're good looking. It's a perfect match."

Lily and Adrian tried to hold back laughing while James, Remus, and Peter weren't doing as good of job. Jo turned to Adrian.

"Let's go. Sorry Lily, maybe you could tell us later when these idiots aren't around." Jo said, glaring at Sirius and then stormed out of the room, followed by Adrian who waved goodbye to Lily.  
"So what were you gonna tell them?" James asked, trying not to sound interested.  
"Why would I tell you?" Lily said back.  
"Aww... come on! Let's gossip!" Sirius said in his best girl voice. "And after, we can do our nails!!" He added, holding up his fingers and pretending to be excited. Peter and James burst out laughing. Remus gave them the, sometimes-I-forget-why-I'm-your-friend look.

"How can you stand being friends with such idiots?" Lily said, giving Remus a disbelieving look.  
"I ask myself that same question sometimes." Remus replied, making Lily laugh a little as she turned around and headed off to bed. Once she shut her door, the guys began to talk again as they stood up.

"Thanks a lot." James said.  
"For what?" Remus replied.  
"Making us look like idiots." Sirius responded.

Remus could have burst out into fits of laughter, but he controlled himself.

"Trust me," he said, making his way for the door, "you don't need me to do that." And while giving one last laughing look, he disappeared out of the door. Peter followed him.  
"So?" James said, when the door shut.  
"So what?" Sirius replied.  
"You and Jo. I thought you couldn't stand her."  
"No, but she got like ten times hotter this summer."

James laughed.

"They were right, you are an idiot."  
"Hey! I seem to recall that Lily called you an idiot too." Sirius shot back. James smile faded into a smirk.  
"Yea, well... we'll see about that."  
"Ah... so you have a plan already?" Sirius looked interested as James's smirk then turned into a grin. Sirius smiled and nodded, understanding what James meant. With that nod, he opened the door and waved goodbye to his friend. James closed the door behind Sirius and looked at the hallway that led to Lily's room. Smiling and nodding he said to himself, "This is the year."


	3. Chapter 3

"Did you get to it?" A voice asked.  
"Yup." Another responded.  
"And did you place the enchantment on it."  
"All set."  
"Good, then the plan can go forward."  
The two voices snickered in the dark.

Over the weeks, James and Lily became friends. He had asked to start over, and she smiling said yes. But she wasn't sure why it had disappointed her so much. Though James had to share Lily's friendship with Snape, he figured it was better than nothing. Near the end of September, two posts had been hung up on the walls. One was about the Hogsmead trip, and the other was about the Halloween dance. James' stomach did a back flip when he saw the post. Smiling to himself, he knew that this could be his chance with Lily. James smiled all the way down the hall to lunch. He squeezed himself between Sirius and Peter, across from Lily, Jo, and Adrian who were talking about something apparently really funny.

"What are you so giddy about mate?" Sirius questioned his friend.  
"Oh... nothing." James replied, still smiling. Looking across the table, he interrupted Lily's conversation. "Hey Evans."  
"Yea?" Lily looked at him, still laughing.  
"Wanna go to Hogsmead with me?"

Lily stopped laughing to consider it. Finally she seemed to reach an answer.

"Yea, I guess. But I'm gonna have to meet up with Sev sometime." She responded.  
"Ok." James smiled. At least she was going with him, and for most of the time if he could manage it.  
"Ohmygosh!" Jo exclaimed, getting Lily and Adrian's attention.  
"Huh?" Both girls responded.  
"I can't believe I forgot to tell you, but guess what I heard!"

Jo was always on top of the latest gossip. Lily and Adrian just shrugged.

"We're getting a new student! And I hear she is really nice." She finally burst out.  
"Where's she from?" Adrian asked.  
"I dunno, some school in America."  
"American girls are hot." Sirius added to their conversation. The girls raised their eyebrows at him and went back to gossiping.  
"So when is she coming?" Lily asked.  
"I'm not..." Jo was cut off.  
"Attention students!" Dumbledore said, and the students had just realized that he was standing at his stand where he stood at the beginning of the year before he was about to make a speech. "We have a new student here with us today. She is from the wizarding school in America. I hope that you will all make her feel welcome." As he finished his sentence, a girl with wavy brown hair and green eyes walked into the dining hall. All eyes were on her. "Ah, students, this is Emily Sternite. She will be finishing her seventh year here. Minerva, do you have the hat?"  
"Right here headmaster," Minerva replied, bringing out the sorting hat.

Emily stood still as the hat was placed on her head. With much consideration the hat finally screamed out  
"Gryffindor!"

The Gryffindor table erupted in applause and Emily found herself sitting next to Adrian. Sirius was already drooling over her and James couldn't help but notice that she was fairly pretty. He snapped out of it though hearing Lily's laugh. On the other side of the room, Snape watched the new girl sitting near Lily. He grinned slightly and went back to talking to a few Slytherins.

Emily fit in with Jo, Adrian, and Lily perfectly. In no time, they were good friends, which was good because Emily ended up getting the bed Lily had before she moved to the Heads dorm. Adrian and Emily had tons to talk about because Emily also loved quidditch and was planning on trying out too.

"When are tryouts?" Emily questioned.  
"Whenever James decides to make them. When is he gonna hold them Lily?" Adrian asked.

Lily was reading a Teen Witch magazine as Adrian braided Emily's long hair and Jo painted her nails.

"And how am I supposed to know?" Lily responded, without looking up from her magazine.  
"Well you guys ARE living together. Don't you ever talk?" Adrian said.  
"Yea, but nothing like quidditch."  
"Is James the guy sitting across from us at the table sitting between the guy that wouldn't stop staring at me and the one balancing a spoon on his nose?" Emily asked.  
"Yup, that was him." Lily answered.  
"So are you two going out?" Emily asked in an interested voice.

Jo and Adrian laughed.

"Lily and James? Hah, no. He's been asking her out since like forever and Lily has turned him down every time." Adrian laughed.  
"But.... she did agree to go to Hogsmead with him." Jo added.

Jo and Adrian grinned at each other then turned to Lily.

"What?! No! We're going as friends and that's all. Plus, I'm meeting Sev sometime too." Lily said, trying to act innocent.  
"Sev... you mean Severus Snape?" Emily said hearing a familiar name.  
"Yea. You know him?" Lily asked.  
"Yea, we are... I mean, when we were little our parents worked together and we always got dragged to our parents work parties. And since we were the only kids there, we would play together." Emily quickly responded.

Lily raised her eyebrow then nodded.

"Cool." She said, going back to looking at the newest dress robes.

James was excited. The Hogsmead trip had finally come. He felt like he had been waiting for this day for years. Once he finished getting ready, deciding on baggy jeans and a red sweatshirt, he said goodbye to Peter, Remus, and Sirius and waited for Lily. About five minutes later she walked down the steps wearing a white tank with a light jacket colored green and light blue jeans.

"Is Miss Lily Evans ready for her trip with Mister James Potter?" James smiled, extending his arm to her.  
"I think so." Lily smiled back, wrapping her arm around his as they walked out of the castle and into Hogsmead.

Their first stop was the Three Broomsticks. James bought them both a butterbeer and they talked about random things, laughing the whole time. After having a drink, they went to Honeydukes where James surprised her with a candy necklace.

"I thought it would look great with your eyes." James grinned and placed it around her neck.  
"Why thank you!" Lily smiled back.

Leaving Honeydukes Lily jumped on James back. He ran with her on his back all they way to the Shrieking Shack. Putting Lily down, they both leaned against the fence, staring at the old building.

"I hear a werewolf lives there." James said.  
"Uh huh, a werewolf?" Lily questioned.  
"Yup. I figure it's true, considering that we always hear howling."  
"Right. A werewolf. Oh, and I bet there's a big dog that lives there too?" Lily joked. James smiled.  
"You never know."

They stood silent for a moment, looking off into the distance when Lily spoke.

"Well I guess I better find Sev."

James felt disappointed, but he refused to show it.

"Ok. Well this was fun." He smiled.  
"Yea," Lily smiled back.

She began to walk back into town when James shouted something to her.

"Hey Lily!"  
"Yea?" She turned around.  
"Will you go to the Halloween dance with me?"

Lily thought for a moment.

"I'd like that."

And after seeing James' grin, she turned around and went back to town to find Snape.

"So how are you fitting in?" Snape asked.  
"Well. They really like me." Emily responded.  
"Good. But don't forget the plan."  
"I won't." Emily said, rolling her eyes. "Trust me, it'll work. I've already talked to Avery and Mulciber."  
"Ok. Well here comes Lily. That means that James is probably alone. Why don't you go get to know him?"  
"Kay. See ya later Snape!" Emily waved as she skipped off to find James.  
"Lily!" Snape shouted, happy to see her.  
"Hey Sev! So you showing Emily around?"  
"Yup."  
"That's nice. She told me how you were friends when you were little. How come you didn't tell me?" Lily questioned.  
"To be quite honest, we knew each other when we were like 6. I had totally forgotten about her until she came back." Snape lied.

Lily laughed and shook her head. They walked along the streets of Hogsmead and caught up on things.

"Hey, your James right?" Emily asked, walking up to a group of four guys.  
"Yea, he is. But forget about him. How about you and me get to know each other better." Sirius winked.  
"Umm... maybe later." She looked taken aback. "But James, I heard you're the quidditch captain?"  
"You heard right." James responded  
"Well I was wondering when tryouts are?"  
"Woah. Hot and athletic. Babe, you've got me hooked." Sirius pretended to be in a trance. James hit him.  
"Sorry about him. Tryouts are gonna be sometime next week. What position do you play?" James asked.  
"Chaser." Emily responded.  
"That's perfect! Johnson isn't here this year and were in need of a new chaser!" Sirius looked proud of his conclusion.  
"Sorry about my friend, he tends to act like an idiot around girls." James laughed. Emily laughed too.  
"Hey, this is my first time here and my other guide just left me so I was wondering if you would show me around?"

James looked over at Remus who was reading and Sirius was now in an argument with Peter.

"Sure. They won't miss me here."

They both laughed and James led Emily out the door and down the streets telling her everything about Hogwarts, including the teachers to avoid and the classes to dread.

As they walked back to Hogwarts, Snape finally got the courage to ask Lily the question that had been burning inside of him.

"So you excited about the Halloween dance?" He asked.  
"Yea!" Lily really was excited about the dance, but she didn't know why. Usually she didn't care for the dances. But this time it was different.  
"So who are you going with?"  
"Well actually, James asked me today and I said yes." A smile crept upon her face.  
"Oh... cool. Well you better save me a dance." Snape said, trying to hide his disappointment.  
"Of course!" Lily responded, clueless of the sudden change in Snape's mood.  
"Well I will see you later." Snape waved goodbye to Lily as they entered the castle and went their separate ways to their dorms.

Emily and James approached the castle.

"Well thanks for the advice! I'll be sure to stay clear of the divination teacher." Emily grinned.  
"Yea, do that and you should be okay. I mean, it's not like she's a horrible person. Just a little creepy, that's all. I mean, she's always coming up to me and saying 'My dear boy... I see an early death for you.' and then she walks away shaking."  
"Well that would creep anyone out." Emily laughed.

James and Emily caught each others gaze. There was something different about her that intrigued him.

"Well I'm gonna go see what Jo and Adrian are up to, so I'll talk to ya later!"

Emily gave James one more smile then walked off. James watched her turn the corner and headed off to his dorm.

"Change of plan." Snape said, jumping out of the corner and catching Emily off guard, making her almost trip.  
"Geeze Snape. Give me a heart attack will ya?" Emily said, trying to restore her balance and catch her breath.  
"There's a change in plan."

Emily raised her eyebrow. Snape whispered the change in her ear. After hearing it all he backed away.

"Can you do it?" He asked.

She looked like he was asking if she knew what 1+1 was.

"Easy." She grinned.  
"Well then I'll see you later."

Snape and Emily parted their ways. Emily thought of the new plan in her head all the way back to the dorm. She liked this plan much better than the last. She liked it a lot.


	4. Chapter 4

James finally decided to hold quidditch tryouts on Friday right after classes. His last class was potions. Lucky for him, he was in the class with Remus, Sirius, Peter, Emily and Lily. Lily was happy to have Emily in the class because both Jo and Adrian had divination.

"So you ready for tryouts?" Sirius questioned Emily as he watched Remus clean up their cauldron.  
"You play quidditch?!" Lily was surprised.  
"Yupp. Didn't I tell ya?" Emily said in a forgetful tone. Lily shook her head. "Are you gonna come watch?"  
"Well... I wasn't planning on it. But I guess I'll go and support a friend" Lily smiled, knowing she wasn't only going to see Emily.

After finishing cleaning their cauldrons, they walked together down the hall were Lily found Jo and Adrian who got so much homework that when Lily said she was gonna watch tryouts they said they would see her later. They reached the pitch and Lily sat between Remus and Peter. She noticed that there were a bunch of other students eagerly watching the tryouts.

The students trying out walked onto the pitch. Lily watched as Emily walked out next to James talking to him, and for some odd reason she felt a bit of jealously in her stomach. What was that about? They were just friends, she thought to herself. It didn't take long for the line of those trying out to thin out. Sirius of course was chosen as a beater, as well as a new sixth year named Josh Hatter. James chose a girl named Olivia Wood to be the keeper.

"So what's up with you and James?" Remus broke the silence.  
"Huh? Oh, nothing." Lily responded.  
"Really now?"  
"Yea, why? What has he told you?"  
"Well he mentioned that you two were going to the dance together."

Lily blushed.

"Well, yea. I said I'd go with him."  
"Do you like him?"  
"What?!" Lily nearly jumped out of the bleachers.  
"Woah, calm down." Remus laughed. "I just asked if you like him."  
"As a friend? Yea, I guess."  
"But what about more?"  
"Well... uhh... I really never thought about that." Lily lied. The truth was she had been questioning herself ever since Hogsmead if she had any feelings about being more than friends with James. Lily noticed they were finally going to try out chasers. "Oh! Emily's going to be trying out soon!" Lily tried to fake being excited.

There were two returning chasers, who of course did well and were chosen. One spot was left to fill, and there were about 10 people left trying out. After about an hour of watching them, he finally decided on his chaser.

"Ok, it wasn't easy. All of you did well but one of you shown above the others. So I'm going to have to give the position to Emily." James said.

Emily jumped up in the air and gave James a huge hug. Lily noticed and couldn't help but get jealous this time.

"Thank you sooo much! You won't regret it." She smiled at him then ran off to the changing room, past the upset students who weren't chosen.  
"Least we got a looker on the team." Sirius grinned at James.

Remus, Peter, and Lily got up and met James, Sirius, and Emily on the grounds.

"I got it!!" Emily shouted as she saw Lily and ran to give her a hug.  
"I know! You did awesome!!" Lily shouted back.  
"Where's my hug Lily, I made the team too." Sirius made a sad puppy-dog face and widened his arms to Lily.

Lily rolled her eyes at Sirius and gave him a hug.

"Wait a minute! I'm on the team too!" James said, watching as Lily gave Sirius a hug.  
"Wow, I started a trend!" Emily and Lily laughed.  
"Don't I get a hug too?" James put on his best sad face.  
"Fineee." Lily laughed and pretended to give in but she realized that she really did want to hug him.

Even though their hug was short and friendly, Lily couldn't help but get butterflies in her stomach when James wrapped his arms around her. Remus and Peter exchanged glances but didn't say anything.

James followed his fellow marauders back to the boy's common room while Lily found Adrian and Jo taking a break from their homework in their dorm.

"Why did we take that class anyways?" Adrian asked.  
"I have no idea. Hey Lils. What's up?" Jo said.

Lily walked in half smiling, half confused. She sat on the bed next to Jo.

"Whats goin on?" Jo asked.  
"I dunno. That's the problem." Lily said back.  
"Well are you gonna tell us?" Adrian said. Lily sighed.  
"I'm really confused." Turning around she made sure that no one was walking by so they could listen in. "I think I might like..."  
"Like?" Adrian wanted her to finish her sentence. Lily took another deep breath.  
"I think I might actually like... James Potter." She whispered.

Both Jo and Adrian squealed.

"I knew it!" Jo and Adrian shouted.  
"Guys! I just said I MIGHT," Lily tried to stop them from jumping to conclusions.  
"Ok, then why do you think you 'Might'?" Jo asked.  
"Well..." Lily told them the story of feeling jealous when Emily was walking with him and gave him a hug and how she felt when she gave him a hug.  
"You totally love him Lily Evans!!" Adrian shouted and Jo laughed.  
"No... I just... like him." Lily said with a sad but happy face and buried her face in her hands. Adrian and Jo laughed.

Back at the boy's dormitory, the marauders were having their own discussion.

"Do you think she likes me?" Sirius asked.  
"Who Lily?" James looked at his friend with a questioning look.  
"Noo... Emily."  
"Why do you care if she likes you? Weren't you just snogging that sixth year yesterday?" Remus added.  
"Yea, but there's something different about Emily." Sirius said.

James was thinking the same thing. Something about her that caught his attention, but he wasn't sure what. Like when she hugged him when he said she got the position of chaser. He felt something strange in his stomach. But he couldn't like her. He liked Lily. Didn't he? Yes. He had to. Why in the world would he have been after her for the last 7 years if he didn't like her? But then why was he questioning if he liked Lily? Of course he did. Doesn't he? Emily gave him a funny feeling though every time he saw her.

"Well I think Lily has finally fallen for you James." Remus said, trying to get out of the conversation with Sirius about whether or not Emily liked him.  
"What? How do you know?" James asked, snapping out of arguing with himself.  
"We asked her." Peter said. Remus looked at him.  
"I do seem to recall that I asked her. But she kept blushing when we asked her about you two." Remus said, grinning at his friend.

James smiled to himself, Lily could have finally fallen for him! But then what about all the doubt he had just had a second ago. Deciding not to think of it now, James shook it off.

"I'm going to bed to I'll talk to you guys tomorrow." James got up and walked towards the door.  
"G'nite." Sirius, Peter, and Remus muttered.

Walking to his dorm, a new thought popped into his head. The Halloween dance was coming up… fast. In fact, it was next week. James climbed into his bed, thinking about all the doubt he had earlier, adding on the dance next week.

The week couldn't have gone by any faster for James. While still trying to sort out his feelings, he soon came to find himself sitting in Professor McGonagall's Transfiguration class being lectured on appropriate behavior for the dance the next day. Finally the bell ended and James walked out of the classroom between Sirius and Remus. Peter trailed behind them. Walking to dinner, they sat across from Lily, Jo, Adrian, and Emily. Sirius kept taking quick glances at Emily, while James looked at her every now and again, though he looked at Lily longer.

"So who are you going with?" Jo asked Emily.  
"Umm... actually I'm going with Severus." Emily responded.

Sirius and James nearly choked on their Pumpkin Juice while Remus looked up from the magazine he was reading.

"Your going with Snape?! Snivellus?!" Sirius couldn't believe it.  
"Umm... yea?" Emily shot him a half offended, half confused look.

The girls went back to their gossiping while James leaned over to Sirius.

"You gotta date yet?" James questioned.  
"Nope. What about you Moony?" Sirius asked.  
"Nope." Remus replied.  
"I do!" Peter almost jumped out of his seat.

Sirius, Remus, and James couldn't believe it.

"Who are you going with?" Sirius asked.

Peter grinned.

"Chelsea."

His fellow marauders gave him a questioning but disgusted look.

"The one in sixth year that gets around?" James tried not to laugh.  
"Yup." Peter looked proud, not hearing the end of James sentence.  
"But seriously, you two need dates." James said, turning his attention to Remus and Sirius.  
"I'm already on it." Sirius grinned, hearing in the girl's conversation that only Lily and Emily had a date. "Oi, Jo!"  
"What?" Jo replied, turning her attention away from her friends.  
"Wanna go to the dance with me?"

Jo thought for what seemed forever.

"Why not?" Jo finally responded, smiling and shrugging. Sirius grinned then turned back to James.  
"Well that settles that. What about you Moony?" Sirius was now facing Remus.  
"Umm... I dunno. I haven't thought about it that much." Remus replied.

Noticing that Remus didn't have a date, and she didn't either, Adrian finally decided that she was gonna ask Remus.

"Hey Remus?" Adrian asked.  
"Yea?" Remus replied.  
"Wanna go to the dance with me?" She smiled. Remus grinned.  
"Yea, I'd like that."

So everyone was all smiles at the table excited about tomorrow. Well, everyone except James. He had a feeling in his stomach that something bad was going to happen at the dance. James caught a glance from Lily and he responded her warm smile. How could he ever doubt if he liked Lily? Shaking off the doubt in his mind, James stood up and told everyone that he was tired and was going to go to bed early. He waved goodbye to them all and exchanged one last smile with Lily before going up to their dorm.

Even though they were in the same dorm, James and Lily barely had time to talk. Between having a ton of homework and spending time with their friends, they hadn't had a real conversation since Hogsmead. Walking to his room there was a package on his bed. He saw that it was from his parents and opened it up. Inside was the most magnificent pair of dress robes inside. But why had his parents sent him two? _Oh well_, he thought. Hanging his robes up, James changed into his pajamas and climbed into bed, thinking of tomorrow.

"Is the plan set?" Snape asked.  
"Yup. Tomorrow is gonna work perfectly." Emily replied.  
"Good. That big-headed prate will finally be out of my way." Snape said so seriously that Emily couldn't help but laugh. Snape glared at her.  
"Sorry." She said.  
"Well go get to bed. We need you nice and pretty for tomorrow." Snape smirked. Emily play hit him.  
"I am ALWAYS pretty." She batted her eyelashes. Snape rolled his eyes as they set off in different directions to bed.


	5. Chapter 5

James woke up late the next morning, to find that Lily was already gone at breakfast. He lied in bed, happy that it was Saturday and he didn't have to worry about any classes. Sitting up he saw his dress robes hanging up and was quickly reminded of the dance later today. Smiling because he finally was able to go with the girl he had liked since first year, he got out of bed and quickly showered. Like he had figured, Lily was already sitting in the great hall eating with Adrian and Jo. He noticed Emily was missing but didn't give it any thought as he sat next to Sirius on the bench.

"Morning sleepyhead." Sirius laughed at James' tired face.  
"We were wondering if you were gonna get up today." Remus added.

Lily looked over at James and grinned at him. James returned the grin. Tonight was going to be the best night of their lives. James was excited, but also nervous, because he was going to ask Lily to be his girlfriend. After all these years of asking her out, tonight was the night. She had finally given him a chance and he knew it had to be perfect. And he intended it to be perfect.

The girls were extra giggly at breakfast. They were discussing how to do each other's hair later and what dresses they had finally decided upon. The guys on the other hand were still in disbelief that Peter was going with Chelsea and how he got her to go with him.

"Well we're gonna start getting ready." Jo said.  
"What? It's still morning! You've got all day to get ready!" Sirius looked at the girls in disbelief.  
"Yea, and we're gonna need all that time to get ready." Adrian responded.

The guys looked at each other then laughed.

"Whatever." Jo rolled her eyes then stood up, followed by Adrian and Lily.  
"We'll see you guys later." Lily said, smiling at James as she followed her friends out of the great hall and up to the dorms.  
"Girls." Sirius said, shaking his head.  
"I hear ya." James laughed.

The girls figured that there would be more room to get ready in the heads dorm, so Adrian and Jo followed Lily inside.

"What if the guys decide they want to get ready in here?" Adrian asked.  
"Yea, what if they guys want to get ready in here?" Sirius said, coming through the door followed by James, Remus, and Peter.  
"You guys can't get ready here!" Jo screamed. The guys covered their ears.  
"Why not? It's my room too." James replied, uncovering his ears.  
"Well if you want to gossip and get your nails and makeup and hair did an..." Lily began; a smile crept upon her face, imagining James wearing pink lipstick.  
"Ok, ok. Let me just get my dress robe!" James stopped Lily, and then went to get his dress robe.  
"We'll meet you in the Gryffindor common room." Remus waved to Adrian as the guys left the heads dorm and went up to the boy's dormitory.  
"Kay, so what color nails Lily?" Jo asked excitedly ready to get ready for the dance.

It took all day to get ready. Though they had many breaks, where they would start gossiping and play games. Adrian was ready first. She had on a sparkly midnight blue floor-length dress. It had a v-neck cut and straps that went around her neck. Her blond hair was half up, half down and curled her bangs slightly in her eyes. Adrian came out next. Her dress was a black spaghetti strap dress, which was cut diagonally, the highest part of the bottom of her dress going just above her knee to halfway down her shin. Her hair was all down and curled.

"Lily!" Jo called after exchanging compliments with Adrian. "We want to see your dress!"

Lily finally came out. She too had a floor length dress that had a v-cut top and tied around her neck. Her dress was a beautiful green that brought out her green eyes. Her hair was mostly up and curled, except for the a couple strands that fell out of the back of her up-do and her bangs fell in her eyes.

"You look hot!" Both Adrian and Jo shouted. Lily laughed.  
"Thanks! You guys look hot too!" Lily replied.  
"So should we get going?" Jo asked. Adrian looked at the clock.  
"I guess we shouldn't keep them waiting any longer." Adrian laughed.

Taking one last look in the mirror they headed out the door to the Gryffindor common room.

"I wonder where they are." Sirius looked at the clock.  
"Right here." Jo responded, climbing through the portrait.

The guys' jaws dropped.

"You look..." James started.  
"Hot!" Sirius finished. The girls laughed.  
"Thanks." They replied.  
"You don't look to bad yourselves." Jo added. They all laughed.  
"Where's Peter?" Lily asked.  
"Oh, he already headed to the dance with Chelsea." Remus responded.

The girls looked at each other then shrugged.

"Well... shall we?" James asked, extending his arm to Lily.  
"We shall." She smiled.

Remus and Sirius did the same to their dates as they headed to the dance.

When they got to the ball room, the first people they noticed were Peter and Chelsea dancing... Well Chelsea was dancing and Peter was making a very bad attempt. James, Sirius, and Remus laughed while Lily, Adrian, and Jo hit them telling them to be nice.

"I bet I can dance better than you." Jo smirked at Sirius.  
"Ha. I don't think so." Sirius grinned back at her.

Sirius led Jo on the dance floor and they brought out their best moves. Laughing, James led Lily onto the floor and Remus led Adrian. They all danced for about ten minutes before the first slow song came on. James pulled Lily close to him and wrapped his arms around her waist. Lily wrapped her arms around his shoulders. James wasn't that much taller than Lily, but she still had to look up to gaze into his eyes. They were so beautiful and hypnotizing. She smiled as they swayed back and forth. James looked down into Lily's eyes, thinking the same thing.

"You look beautiful tonight." James grinned.  
"Thanks. You don't look too bad yourself." Lily returned a smile then rested her head on his shoulder.

It was like Lily's head was made for his shoulder. Having her in his arms was the best feeling he had ever felt, and he didn't want that feeling to go away. Unfortunately soon after, the song ended and another fast song came on.

"Are you thirsty?" James asked, leading Lily over to the tables by Remus and Adrian. Sirius was still dancing with Jo.  
"A little." Lily responded.  
"I'll be right back." James smiled then went to go get something to drink.  
"Soo..." Adrian asked when James was out of sight.  
"Soo... what?" Lily looked confused.  
"Are you having fun?"

Lily smiled to herself without realizing it.

"Yea." She finally responded.  
"Ohmygosh!" Adrian shouted, getting a few heads turned her way.  
"What?!" Lily wondered what happened.  
"You, Lily Evans, are so totally in love with James Potter!!"

Lily tried to quiet her friend while trying to control her smile.

"Well... maybe?" Lily said shrugging and smiling.  
"Aww... that's cute."  
"Where's Remus?" Lily wanted to change the subject.  
"He's over with your lover getting us drinks." Adrian replied laughing. Lily play hit her.  
"So how are you two hitting it off?"  
"He's nice, but I think we'll stay just friends."  
"Aww... poor you." Lily tried to make a sad face while laughing.  
"What's that face for?" James said returning with two drinks followed by Remus.  
"Oh, nothing." Lily laughed taking the drink James handed to her. "Thank ya dahlin."

Adrian and Lily both burst out laughing. Remus and James didn't know what was so funny.

"Never mind. Thanks hun." Adrian said to Remus trying not to laugh.

While the girls had their fun confusing the guys, the dance was going by pretty fast. Before they knew it, it was half over. They had gotten up and danced a couple of times and were back sitting at the tables talking and laughing. Sirius and Jo had finally returned arguing over who was the best dancer.

"Yea, well I'm a better snogger." Sirius grinned.  
"No, I think I'm a better snogger." Jo responded.  
"Well then I guess there's only one way to find out."

Sirius and Jo began snogging while everyone else yelled at them to get a room. They decided to just ignore them when they wouldn't move and went back to laughing about random things, when someone approached them.

"Hey Lily."  
"What do you want Snivilus?" James asked, his attitude not as nice as it was a second ago.

Lily rolled her eyes at James and turned to Snape.

"Hey Sev." She said.  
"Hey. So I was wondering if you would like to dance.?" Snape asked.  
"Uh... she's my date." James added in, wondering why he would think he could ask his date for a dance.  
"Well, I promised him a dance because he asked me right after you did." Lily said to James.

James' stomach turned. Thank goodness he asked her when he did otherwise the man he most despised would be with the girl he loved.

"Ok, that's fine then." James tried to look happy.  
"I'll be back." Lily got up then kissed James on the cheek.

She followed Snape onto the dance floor and they began to dance, being watched carefully by James. He watched them until his view became blocked by someone.

"Hey James. I was wondering if you wanted to dance?"

James looked up into the girls eyes and looked back at Lily. If she could dance with Snivilus then there certainly wasn't a problem with him dancing with her. He had also promised her a dance.

"You're a great dancer." Emily tried to catch James' gaze, but he was still busy keeping an eye on Lily and Snape.  
"Wha... oh, thanks. You look nice tonight." James replied, not paying attention.

Emily did look quite nice that night. Her hair was back and she was wearing a beautiful turquoise dress that was low cut in the back. They kept dancing to the song playing, James hoping it would be over soon so he could get back to Lily.

"Hey, you wanna come with me?" Emily asked, trying to get his attention.  
"Sorry, I'm kinda out of it right now." James tried to look apologetic.  
"It's ok. So do you wanna..."

Emily was cut short. The song had ended and James broke away from her.

"Sorry, but I gotta get back to my date. Maybe another time?" James was now not paying any attention to Emily.

Before she could call after him, James had Lily back in his arms and they were dancing on the dance floor to another fast beat song.

"I thought you said it would work." Snape hissed as he walked over to Emily.  
"I thought it would. But he was too distracted by HER." Emily sneered at Lily.  
"Well then we're gonna have to rethink this plan."  
"Don't worry, I have another idea. But it's gonna take some time."  
"Ok, as long as it'll work."  
"Oh... it'll work." Emily grinned at James as he spun Lily around. "No doubt in my mind, it'll work."

The dance ended and everyone was heading back up to their dorms. Lily and James said goodbye to their friends as they went up to their heads dorm. Lily and James had both changed into their pj's. James was sitting on the sofa in front of the fire, watching Lily try to undo her hair in the mirror in the hallway.

"This is what I hate about my hair. It's impossible to work with. And, it looks horrible!" Lily said, trying to get the bobby pins out of her hair and straighten it out.  
"I think it looks beautiful." James grinned.

Lily laughed, picked up a pillow and threw it at him.

"Hey! What was that about?!" James pretended to be upset.  
"It was for you making fun of me." Lily laughed, taking the last bobby pin she could find out of her hair and now trying to run a brush through the inch of hairspray she had in her hair.  
"I wasn't making fun. You really do look beautiful."

Lily tried to control herself, but she couldn't stop herself from blushing. Finally she was able to comb back her hair and stick it in a ponytail, though a few of her still curly bangs fell into her eyes. She sat on the other side of the sofa facing James and smiled.

"What?" He said.

Lily, while still smiling just shrugged. James laughed, then scooted closer to Lily and stuck his arm around her.

"So did you have fun tonight?" He asked her.  
"Yea, I did." Lily smiled even more and rested her head on his shoulder, looking into the bright flames of the fire.

James felt like he was on top of the world as Lily laid her head on him for the second time tonight. He smiled to himself before speaking again.

"Hey Lil?"  
"Hmm...?" She responded, also loving being in his arms.  
"I was wondering..."  
"Yea?"


	6. Chapter 6

"Would you be my girlfriend?" James asked, holding his breath.

Lily took James's hand that was not around her shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"I thought you would never ask."

She smiled, looking up at him. James leaned over and kissed Lily softly on the lips. They sat in front of the fire all night cuddled up. Lily woke up the next morning to find she was sleeping on James's lap. Quietly getting up she kissed James on the forehead and went into the bathroom to take a shower. She didn't notice James was awake when she got out and walked to her room in her bathrobe. James watched as Lily closed her door then smiled to himself, getting off the couch. He walked to the window. It was a sunny autumn day, perfect weather for quidditch practice. Thinking about the game the upcoming week, James walked away from the window and into the bathroom to take a shower. He was out and ready to go to breakfast, and even was able to read a little of his new quidditch magazine before Lily came out of her room ready to go.

"You ready to go?" Lily smiled at him.  
"Yup." James returned her smile with a quick kiss. Walking ahead of Lily, he opened the door for her.

She said thanks and they were off to breakfast, walking hand in hand. They got many head turns and even a few whispers.

"She finally said yes!" One sixth year said.  
"They're so cute." Another fifth year smiled and nodded at them.  
"Now I won't have a chance with him." A second year sounded upset.

The older girls looked at the small girl and walked away. Lily and James just smiled as they walked. Once they reached the great hall, James put his arm around Lily's waist. He had finally won over the girl of his dreams, and he walked proudly with her in his arms to the Gryffindor table. When they entered, there were many stares and whistles and "way to go's!" from the guys.

"OHMYGOSH!" Adrian shouted when she saw them.

Lily smiled at her friends.

"It's about time mate. I was beginning to doubt you." Sirius patted his friend on the back, grinning.  
"You guys are sooo adorable!" Jo said happy for the couple.

Everyone was so happy for Lily and James. Well almost everyone. A few teachers came up to Lily ("Run Lily, run while you still can." Professor McGonagall said in a half joking, half serious voice.) Lily noticed that Emily didn't look to happy at the table.

"Hey Emily, what's up?" Lily said cheerily.  
"Eh... nothing really. Hey James, when's the next quidditch practice?" Emily responded, now turning to James.  
"Today at 4:30." James responded.  
"Do you think you could meet me there early? I'm kinda nervous about the game next week and I was hoping you could help me practice?" Emily looked hopeful.  
"Course." James said quickly.  
"I'll come to." Sirius entered the conversation.

James raised his eyebrow at him but let it go.

"So did you guys decide who was the better snogger?" James smirked at Sirius and Jo.  
"Well..." Jo began, grinning.  
"I still say I won, but she is definitely pretty good." Sirius grinned.  
"Umm... excuse me but I do believe I won."  
"So then it's a tie?"

Sirius grinned at Jo. She just rolled her eyes and went back to talking with Lily and Adrian.

As James and Sirius walked to the quidditch pitch around 3:30, they noticed Emily was already flying around in the air.

"She's an amazing flyer." Sirius stared at Emily in the air.

James shook his head and laughed.

"Do you like Emily, Padfoot?" James grinned at his friend.  
"No... why? Do you think she likes me?" Sirius tried to look innocent.

James laughed.

"No idea. You could ask her?" James responded. Sirius looked offended.  
"Noo... I can't just go up to her and say 'hey Emily, do you like me?'" Sirius looked at James like it was stupid to even suggest that.

Trying to hold that look, Sirius finally burst out laughing with James. James shook his head.

"Well you could always have Lily ask."  
"You're a genius!" Sirius began running back to the castle.  
"Wait! Sirius! We're supposed to be helping Emily! Sirius!! Oh forget it." James laughed to himself while continuing to walk to the changing room after Sirius was out of sight.

"Hey! Thanks for coming!" Emily smiled as James flew up next to her, holding a quaffle. "Where's Sirius? I thought he was coming too."  
"He... had to do something." James responded, grinning. "Well let's start before everyone else gets here."

James tossed the quaffle to Emily then headed to the goal posts. After about 10 minutes of work, James began to figure Emily just had to work off a bunch of nerves because she actually was really good. At 4:30 the rest of the team was at the quidditch pitch. Sirius came onto the field with thumbs up and James noticed that Lily was sitting on the bleachers with Remus, Peter, and Jo. He laughed to himself shaking his head then beginning practice. The four were not the only ones in the stands. There were also many girls who giggled every time Sirius flew by and winked at them.

"Why are we here?" Jo complained to Lily.

Lily was forced to come by Sirius so she could ask Emily after practice so she could tell him by dinner. And Lily didn't want to go alone with Remus and Peter so she forced Jo to go.

"Because we should support our friends!" Lily tried to sound enthusiastic.  
"You mean support your boyfriend?" Jo smirked.

That wasn't true. Though Lily did really like James, she didn't care for quidditch. If Sirius didn't force her to go, she probably wouldn't have been at the practice at all.

The practice went well. Everyone did a good job and was ready to get to dinner. Lily told Jo that she would meet her at dinner, because she had to go talk to someone. Jo laughed and winked at Lily, figuring she had to go meet James for some snogging.

"Hey Lily!" James said, walking up to Lily and giving her a hug. She gave him a quick peck on the cheek.  
"Sorry, I'll meet you at dinner. I've gotta go talk to someone." Lily responded winking at Sirius then walking away to find Emily.  
"I love your girlfriend mate." Sirius grinned.  
"I hate some of the ideas I put into your head." James shook his head as he and Sirius headed back to the castle for dinner.

Lily found Emily coming out of the locker room last.

"Hey Emily!" Lily put on a fake smile.  
"Hey Lily!" Emily smiled back.  
"You did awesome today."  
"Thanks. I didn't know you were into quidditch."  
"Yea, I'm not really. But I was forced to go."

Emily laughed.

"By James?"  
"Yea." Lily smiled, trying to cover her lie.  
"So I really don't get a chance to talk to you. How's your year been?"  
"Really good actually." Emily smiled.  
"That's good. So you got your eye on anyone special?" Lily smiled back.

Emily stopped to think for a second. Lily stopped with her.

"Sorta." Emily finally responded then began walking back to the castle.  
"Ohh... and who might it be?" Lily asked.  
"Well... he's really cute and sweet. He gets into trouble a lot too, apparently from what I've heard."

Lily figured it must be Sirius.

"He sounds hot." Lily laughed.  
"Yea, plus he also likes quidditch." Emily added as they entered the school.  
"Well you should totally go for it."

Emily looked at the ground then back up at Lily.

"Maybe. Well I'm gonna go change because I still feel like I smell from practice." Emily laughed, then said goodbye to Lily.

Lily walked into the great hall where she saw Sirius eagerly waiting for her to get to the table. She sat down next Jo and across from James.

"Soo?" Sirius asked anxiously.

"Well... she didn't give me a name, but it sounded like she was describing you." Lily responded to Sirius's eagerness.  
"Yes!" Sirius air punched the air. People around him laughed while others gave him a what-in-the-world stare.

Before they knew it, Saturday had come and everyone was preparing for the first quidditch game. As the Gryffindor team came into the great hall for breakfast, the room erupted in applause. Though the Slytherins were booing. It was the most anticipated match of the season. Gryffindor vs. Slytherin. James sat next to Lily as he came in and gave her a kiss on the cheek before eating. Emily, Adrian, James, and Sirius were in deep conversation about the game coming up in about an hour and a half. The entire team was excited. Before leaving the great hall to get down to the field, James asked Lily for a good luck kiss.

"Fine." Lily rolled her eyes laughing, then gave James a kiss on the lips.  
"I'll see you at the party." James winked at her as he walked away with Sirius, Emily, and Adrian to the field.

"Welcome to the most anticipated game of the season! Today we have Gryffindor vs. Slytherin. But we all know who's gonna win." Alex Jordan laughed into the microphone as Professor McGonagall gave him a stern look. "For the Gryffindor team we have Sirius Black," _girls giggle in the background_ "enough said there. Also playing beater we have Jack Sloper. For chasers we have Emily Robins, she's new to the team this year and i must say, she's quite a looker. Adrian Bell, also a looker and returning from last year, and I think we can say that we can expect greater things this year from her than last. Andy Johnson is also back to play chaser. Jack Wood returning as keeper. And last but certainly not least, James Potter as seeker!" The crowd roared and many girls screamed as James flew by with Sirius, scanning the crowd for Lily.

He found her and quickly waved. She was sitting with Jo, Remus, and Peter. They all gave him a thumbs up and mouthed good luck.

"For the Slytherin team we have Crabb and Goyle playing beater, Parkinson, Zabini and Pucey playing chasers, Warrington as keeper and Malfoy as seeker."

The Slytherin side erupted in applause while all other houses booed or laughed. Many thought it was quite amusing that Jordan had not even bothered to mention the Slytherin players' first names.

Madam Hooch got in the center of the field with the players circling around her.

"I want a clean game." She shouted then threw the quaffle up.  
"And their off!" Jordan began his commentary of the game.

"Gryffindor wins!!" Jordan screamed into the microphone as the crowd erupted in loud cheers. They Slytherins just scowled as they walked gloomily off the field. The Gryffindor team flew to the ground and gave each other hugs and high-fives. When everyone walked into the Gryffindor common room, a huge party was already going on.

Winter came fast, and before they knew it, they were planning winter breaks. Jo was sitting with Sirius and James as Lily walked into the great hall for lunch.

"Yea yea, I won't tell... Hey Lily!" Jo smiled, quickly dropping the subject.  
"What aren't you gonna tell?" Lily questioned her friend, sitting down next to James as he kissed her on the cheek.  
"Oh nothing..." Sirius grinned.

Lily felt like there was something they weren't telling her, but she shrugged it off.

"So you're coming home with me for Christmas right Lily?" Jo asked.  
"Well... it's either your house or mine, where my sister will be having her awful boyfriend over. I don't know what she sees in him. He's such a pig." Lily laughed.  
"So I'm taking that as a yes?"  
"Yes." Lily smiled.  
"Good, because I already told my mom you're coming and she's ecstatic about it. I swear, if she could, she would adopt you."

They laughed. Winter break was finally here. James, Sirius, Adrian, Jo and Lily were all gathered in the entrance waiting for the carriages to take them to the train. Peter and Remus had already left for their winter vacations.

"Man, I'm gonna miss you guys." Adrian whined.  
"But you're gonna have a ton of fun in Ireland. I mean, getting to see all those hot quidditch guys..." Jo daydreamed as Adrian play hit her.  
"Yea, but I'd rather be with you guys." Adrian looked sad.  
"We'll see each other soon though!" Lily smiled at her friend and gave her a hug before Adrian left them.  
"So are we set?" James whispered to Jo as Lily had her back turned to him giving Adrian a hug.

Jo nodded and James smiled. After waving goodbye to Adrian, Lily came back to the group and wrapped her arms around James' waist.

"I'm gonna miss you." She looked up into his eyes.  
"We'll see each other soon." James grinned a little knowing that Sirius was thinking the same thing he was.

James gave Lily a kiss before she waved goodbye to him and Sirius and followed Jo to a carriage. As they settled down in a carriage to themselves, Jo spoke.

"So just to let you know, my cousins are gonna be stopping by sometime over break around Christmas." Jo said.  
"That's cool. Where do they go to school?" Lily asked.  
"They go to the Wizarding School in America."  
"Do they know Emily?"  
"I dunno. Maybe? But yea, my cousins are pretty cool. You'll like them."  
"What are their names?"  
"Chelsea, Naomi, and Taylor."


	7. Chapter 7

"Man, I can't wait any longer." James sighed, looking out the frost covered window. Christmas was coming fast.

Sirius laughed.

"It's not that bad. Moony should be here anytime and you'll see 'em soon enough. But it has to be a surprise, so don't blow it."  
"Yea, yea, yea... I won't." James rolled his eyes.

"JO!" Jo's mother shouted.

Jo and Lily were up in Jo's room looking through magazines trying to figure out what to do that day.

"What mom?!" Jo responded, not looking up from her magazine.  
"Have you cleaned your room yet?" Her mother shouted back.  
"Almost done."  
"Well make sure it's completely done before your cousins get here. I don't want the house looking like a mess."  
"Ok mom."

Jo rolled her eyes as Lily laughed.

"Moms..." Jo shook her head an Lily nodded in agreement.  
"So what are we doing today?" Lily asked.  
"Well... after I finish cleaning my room..." Jo said, flicking her wand making all the clothes on the floor pick themselves up and put them in the hamper. "... there we go. Well I was thinking I could show you around town. There's not a ton to do here, but there's some interesting stuff..." Jo grinned.

Lily looked confused.

"Like?"  
"You're just gonna have to find out." Jo smiled and Lily tossed a pillow at her.

Jo's mother called them down shortly after their war of throwing pillows at each other had started, saying it was time for dinner.

"Now, when your cousins get here, I want you on your best behavior. Let's not have a repeat of what happened last time." Jo's mother gave her a stern look.  
"Ok mom." Jo rolled her eyes as Lily looked interested.  
"Trust me, you don't want to know." Jo's mother responded to Lily's curious look.

Lily nodded an tried not to laugh, thinking about what had happened "last time". They finished their dinner and as Lily and Jo were getting ready to go out, there was a crack in the fireplace and three girls stepped out.

"Auntie Ami!" They shouted, running towards Jo's mother to give her a hug.  
"Girls! Lily, this is Chelsea, Naomi, and Taylor." Ami said.  
"Hi." Lily smiled at the three girls standing before her as they smiled back.

Sirius and James were sitting upstairs, laughing, when they heard a loud crack downstairs. About a second later they heard someone coughing and stepping out onto the hardwood floor.

"Remus! It's about time!" James ran down the stairs, so excited that he gave Remus a big hug.  
"It's... good to see you too?" Remus struggled for air, looking confused at Sirius.  
"He's happy your here so now we can leave." Sirius nodded and Remus understood.  
"Ok, James. If you let me go, I'll put my bags upstairs and we can leave." Remus coughed, laughing at his friend.

James blushed and let Remus go.

"Well hurry up!" James shouted excitedly.

Remus and Sirius laughed at James as Remus climbed the stairs to put his bags in James' room.

The girls were all sitting in Jo's room. Lily was braiding Chelsea's hair as Jo's, Naomi, and Taylor were painting each other's nails and reading magazines, and of course... gossiping about boys!

"Vincet Krum is soo hot! Definitely on the top ten hotties list!" Naomi giggled.  
"What about Landen O'rian?" Taylor looked offended that her cousin could forget about him.

All the girls burst out laughing.

"So Lily, you got a boy?" Chelsea asked.

Lily blushed a little and all the girls giggled.

"Well..." Lily started.  
"Yea, she does. He's pretty hot too." Jo said in a matter-of-factly way.  
"Well then I wanna meet him, to see if he can make his way onto THE hot list." Naomi smiled.  
"What about you Jo?" Taylor asked.  
"Well..." Jo started.  
"She has a guy in mind but they're not "official"." Lily laughed, accenting official with finger quotation marks.

The girls continued to talk when Jo's mom called to her.

"Adrian! Can you get the door?!"  
"Ugh... Ok mom!" Jo yelled out the door. "Be right back."

Jo walked down the stairs and took a quick glance out the window. Smiling to herself, she quickly checked her hair in the mirror then opened the door.

"Where have you guys been?!" She said as softly as she could.  
"We had to wait for Moony to get here. You look hot today." Sirius grinned at Jo, making her blush.  
"Be quiet. Well there's an pond down the street. How about we meet you there?" Jo suggested.  
"Sounds like a plan." James agreed.  
"Ok. We'll be there in like 20 minutes."  
"See you there!"

The guys waved goodbye and headed down to the pond Jo pointed out to them. Jo headed back upstairs, trying to hid her smile.

"Hey guys, I have an idea. Let's go out!" She entered the room brightly.  
"Sounds like fun." Naomi said.  
"Ok." Lily, Taylor, and Chelsea agreed.

The girls put on their winter coats, hats, mittens, and scarves and headed out the door after saying goodbye to Jo's mom. They followed Jo not knowing what was going to be waiting for them.

" Jo, where are we going?" Naomi asked after about five minutes walking down a snow covered road.  
"You'll see." Jo grinned at her cousins and Lily.  
"I don't like that look." Lily looked at her friend with a worried face.

Jo laughed and kept walking. A few minutes later, they were walking down a hill where there was an ice-covered pond, a snow covered dock, and a bare large oak tree.

"What are we doing here?" Talyor asked, looking around.  
"Are we gonna go ice-skating?!" Chelsea seemed a little excited.  
"Uh... yea. We're gonna go ice skating! And I also thought we could have a picnic!" Jo replied.

Lily raised her eyebrow at her friend and all the girls began to laugh.

"A picnic in the snow, that's funny Jo." Chelsea laughed.  
"Hey Chelsea!" Taylor said from behind Chelsea.  
"What?" Chelsea began to turn around and was nailed in the face by a snowball. "Why you..." Chelsea scooped up a handful of snow and began to pack it.

Right as Chelsea threw the snowball, Taylor ducked, and the snowball hit Naomi.

"Hey now!" Naomi shouted and began packing her own snowball.

It wasn't long before the girls had a snowball fight going on.

"Mind if we join?" A voice said coming down the hill.

Lily looked up and shrieked. She hid the snowball she had in her hand behind her back and ran to give James a hug.

"Oh my gosh! What are you doing here?!" Lily asked excitedly.  
"Well in case Jo hasn't told you, I live down the street from her." James replied.  
"And technically, so do I." Sirius grinned, walking quickly down the hill, followed by Remus.  
"Hey Remus! Hey Sirius!" Lily was happy to see her friends.  
"Hey Lily." Remus smiled giving Lily a friendly hug.  
"Hey Jo," Sirius nodded at Jo.

Jo smiled and Taylor gave her a friendly nudge. Jo looked at her cousin and tried to hold back her grin.

"So let's get this party started!" Sirius shouted, and with that, Lily took her snowball hitting Sirius in the face, starting their snowball war.


	8. Chapter 8

After the girls declared themselves the winners of the war, everyone was lying on the snow covered ground. James had his arm around Lily as they looked up into the cloud covered sky, with snowflakes falling on their faces. Jo, Naomi, and Taylor were talking with Sirius as Chelsea talked to Remus.

"I'm cold. How about we go get some hot chocolate? There's a coffee shop close to here." Jo suggested.  
"Sure." Lily replied.  
"Sounds good." Everyone else said.

It took them only about a minute to walk to the coffee shop. It was warm and toasty inside. The group all took seats on the couches around the fireplace. The hot chocolate came fast as the group talked about the rest of break and what they should do. Looking outside Jo noticed it was starting to get dark.

"We better start heading home or my mom will freak." Jo sighed.  
"Ok." Naomi and Taylor said.  
"I'll talk to you later." Chelsea smiled at Remus.  
"You comin Lil?" Jo asked.  
"You guys go ahead." Lily told her friends, hanging back with James.  
"You guys go ahead too." James told Sirius and Remus.  
"Aww... do we have to? I mean, we really wanted to hang with you two love birds." Sirius said sarcastically.  
"Haha," James laughed back sarcastically.  
"Come on Sirius, we'll meet you back at the house James." Remus grabbed Sirius by the arm and dragged him out of the coffee house.

Lily and James were the last to walk out the door. James wrapped his arm around Lily's back and she did the same to him.

"So did ya miss me?" James questioned.  
"I dunno. Did you miss me?" Lily answered back.  
"I asked first." James said.  
"Well I asked second." Lily smiled while staring him down for an answer.

James leaned down and kissed Lily. When they broke away, they both were smiling.

"Does that answer your question?" James grinned.  
"I'm not sure." Lily smiled as she kissed James.  
"Gross! Get a room." A snide voice came from around a building.

Lily and James pulled away to see Lucius Malfoy walking around the corner with a disgusted look on his face, followed by Avery.

"What the bloody 'ell do you want Malfoy?" James sneered at the two unwanted people standing in front of him.  
"We came to see how the mudblood was doing." Avery smirked at Lily.

James defensively took a step in front of Lily, but she took a step to the side.

"I'll ki..." James snarled at them, taking his wand out.  
"It's ok James." Lily calmly said, taking a step to the side and bringing James' hand down, then glared at Lucius and Avery. "I'm fine. Now leave us alone."  
"Oh no. I'm scared that this mudblood is gonna hurt us now Lucius." Avery mocked being scared.

Lucius laughed as James attempted to bring his wand up again, but Lily stopped him.

"What do you want?" Lily asked impatiently.  
"Well we just came to inform you that your little buddy is now on our side again, so you better watch out." Lucius responded, his lip curling.  
"What..." James started, but Lily interrupted him.  
"Yea... right. I know him better than you, and I know he would never be friends with you again."  
"Shows how little you mudbloods know." Avery laughed.

Lily couldn't control her temper at the last remark. Without thinking, she swung her fist and hit Avery right in the jaw. Avery fell to the ground, and Lucius looked impressed with the hit Lily had just swung.

"Nice. But be warned, he is back with us now." Lucius smirked and helped Avery off the ground, who was rubbing his jaw.  
"Let's go James." Lily turned around and grabbed James' arm.

When they reached the end of Jo's driveway, James stopped Lily.

"What was that about?" James asked.  
"What? Back there? Oh... nothing." Lily shook her head like nothing was wrong, but James could tell something was.  
"Lily, I know something is wrong, and you should know by now that you can trust me." James told her, sitting down on the front steps.

Lily sat next to him. She took a deep sigh before speaking.

"Avery, Lucius, and Severus over the summer did some bad stuff." She began.  
"If they hurt you I swear I'll kill them." James broke in.  
"No... no. But they did some bad stuff to the muggles in our neighborhood. And Severus came to me telling me what they were doing, and he asked me to forgive him. I was still mad, and the fact that they were hurting muggles didn't help. But the fact he came to me..." Lily had a worried look on her face, remembering that night. "But he got them to stop and I decided to forgive him. Now I guess Lucius is saying that he's got Severus back on his side and they're gonna do more bad stuff to muggles. But I know Severus, he wouldn't do that again."

Lily finished speaking and they sat there in silence. James wrapped his arms around Lily to keep her warm. He noticed a single tear slide down her face. In all the years he had known her, he had not once heard about or seen her cry. He decided not to say anything, but hug her tighter and give her a kiss on the head. After a few minutes, Lily decided she had better go in because the girls may be wondering where she was.

"So I'll see you later." James smiled and gave her a kiss.  
"Sounds good." Lily smiled and gave him a kiss back.

As Lily walked up the steps, James said one last thing.

"I love you Lily Evans." He smiled.  
"I love you too, James Potter." Lily smiled back, and with that, walked inside.

James walked back home, smiling all the way. Lily stood behind the closed door for a minute. James Potter just said he loved her. And she loved him. Because of this, Lily felt guilty for lying to James about what happened over the summer, but shrugged it off, walking upstairs to tell the girls that James Potter loves her!

"You were soo totally gushing over Remus, Chels." Taylor laughed.  
"But what about Jo and Sirius?" Naomi added in.

The girls were laughing, when Lily entered, with a huge smile on her face.

"Ohh... what happened?!" Jo screamed, excitedly.  
"James said he loved me! And I said it back!" Lily burst out excitedly.  
"Ohmygosh!!" Jo nearly screamed. "It's about time you two said that. We thought we were gonna have to force you two to say it. And now Chelsea is in love with Remus." Jo giggled.  
"What?! I never said I was in LOVE with him. I just said he was cute." Chelsea blushed.  
"Whatever. You know you totally like him." Taylor laughed.  
"Maybe a little big?" Chelsea held her fingers close together and shrugged innocently.  
"So did you two have a snog fest then?" Naomi asked.

Lily was surprised by this question then laughed.

"Well..." She started. "Not a 'snog fest', but we did kiss. Well, until Lucius and Avery came and ruined it." Lily looked like she was going to hit something.  
"Aww... I'm sorry Lil. He's a jerk. But at least you and James are together and happy now!" Jo added in.  
"Yea..." Lily sighed and smiled to herself, thinking about what Lucius and Avery had said earlier.

"So you finally said it?!" Sirius interrogated James.  
"Yup." James said proudly.  
"Bout time." Remus patted his friend on the back.  
"I know. We were having a perfect day... until Malfoy and Avery came and ruined it." James looked mad.  
"Those bloody idiots?! What'd they do?" Sirius looked just as mad that these two people could ruin his friends happiness with the girl he has been trying to get for the past 6 years.  
"Well me and Lily were..." James started.  
"Lily and I." Remus interrupted.  
"Whatever." James rolled his eyes, causing Sirius and Remus to grin. "Lily and **I** were coming out of the coffee shop and we were talking and we started to snog, and Malfoy and Avery come out of nowhere telling us to get a room. The nerve of those two." James was making himself even more mad thinking about it.  
"Oh... that had to be soo HORRIBLE mate, but I can see what he's saying. I mean, I don't want to watch you two snog." Sirius laughed.  
"Your supposed to be on MY side." James looked offended.  
"Well, I'm just saying." Sirius shrugged.  
"Just continue." Remus interrupted, wanting to hear the rest of the story.  
"Well Lucius goes off telling Lily that her friend has rejoined them or whatnot. And they had the nerve to call her a mudblood. If Lily didn't stop me, I would have done some serious re-arranging to their faces. But yea, I guess what Lily said they were talking about is that they did some bad stuff to muggles over the summer and now she is worried that they're going to do it again."  
"They don't know who they're messing with." Sirius said. "Don't worry mate. We'll get them when the term starts back up."

James thought about second term, and how much more amazing it would be now that he and Lily were finally together.


	9. Chapter 9

**I hope you're enjoying the story! Leave reviews to tell me what you think =] I'll post more chapters tomorrow!**

"Wake up Lily! It's time for presents!" Jo jumped onto Lily's bed, waking her up.  
"Wha? Five more minutes." Lily mumbled, shoving her face into her pillow.  
"Wake up!" Taylor, Naomi, and Chelsea all jumped onto Lily's bed, waking her up.  
"Alright, alright. I'm up." Lily moaned, sitting up and rubbing her eyes.

Lily looked at the presents in the middle of the floor and realized that it was Christmas morning. She totally forgot. Quickly getting out of bed, Lily grabbed her presents and began opening them. From her parents, a beautiful green sweater, new quills, and some candy from Hoenydukes. From Naomi, Chelsea, and Taylor she got chocolate frogs and sugar quills. Jo gave her a BFF charm bracelet and some nail polish that changed color depending on your mood ("Said to be the most accurate mood thingys out there!" Jo added excitedly). Sirius and Remus had also given her candy from Honeydukes, including the all time favorite Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans. Finally she opened her present from James. Inside a small box was a silver heart locket, engraved on the outside L+J. On the inside, there was a picture of Lily and James, lying in the snow laughing on one side, and the other side said "Always and Forever". Lily smiled, as she held the locket close. Jo walked over to see her gift.

"Aww! It's so beautiful!" Jo cried.  
"I know!" Lily smiled uncontrollably at the locket, finally deciding to put it on.  
"It looks amazing Lily." Taylor smiled.  
"Girls! Time for breakfast!" Jo's mom yelled up the stairs.  
"Coming!" Jo responded.

The girls all went downstairs, huge smiles on their faces.

"Good morning girls. You all look extremely happy!" Jo's mom smiled at them.  
"I loved the earrings mom, thanks!" Jo smiled at her mom.  
"Yea, thanks for the sweaters and candy Auntie Ami!" Chelsea, Taylor, and Naomi all said together.  
"My pleasure girls." Jo's mom responded.  
"Mom, you gotta see what Lily got from James." Jo said.

Lily blushed a little then showed Jo's mom the locket.

"Aww... it's beautiful." Jo's mom smiled.  
"Thanks." Lily responded.  
"So what are you girls doing today?" Jo's mom asked.  
"Well, we were planning on heading over to the Potter's sometime today to say hi to the guys." Jo told her mom.  
"Tell me when you go, I made some cookies for them."  
"Ok mom."

The girls headed back upstairs after breakfast and tried on their new things. Lily also put on some of her new nail polish.

"What color is it?" Taylor asked.  
"Umm... a light pink color." Lily said.

Taylor flipped through the color chart that the nail polish came with.

"Says here that you are in love," Taylor giggled.  
"Well that's obvious." Chelsea joked.  
"So when are we going to visit the guys?" Lily asked, trying to change the subject.  
"Can't wait to see your lover?" Jo laughed.

Lily looked at her friends, raising one eyebrow. Since they were having fun with her, she decided to have some fun with them, making sure she stressed everything she said.

"No. I just can't wait to see James any longer. I NEED him right now. I don't think I could go a minute longer without him!" Lily pretended to faint on the bed.

Everyone burst out laughing.

"Well at least we know you'll never be an actress." Jo laughed.  
"Hey! I could be one if I wanted... I just don't want to be one." Lily smiled. "But when are we heading over there?"  
"Well we can leave now if you guys are ready."

Lily, Chelsea, Naomi, and Taylor all said they were ready so Jo told her mom, got the cookies, and they were off to the Potter's house.

"Johanna! How are you doing my dear?!" Mrs. Potter jumped for joy when she opened the door to find her best friends daughter at her house.  
"Hi Mrs. Potter! We came to see the guys." Jo smiled, giving Mrs. Potter the cookies.  
"Thank you my dear. The boys are in the den. But be careful, Sirius is a little moody." Mrs. Potter smiled as she pointed the way.

"So why exactly are you moody, Sirius?" Jo walked into the den first.  
"I'm not moody. Who told you that?" Sirius asked in an annoyed way.  
"Sirius is upset that the book Hagrid sent him bit him." Remus laughed.  
"Shut up." Sirius threw the tied up book at Remus.

The book sprung open and James quickly stomped on it so it wouldn't bite anyone else. The girls laughed watching the guys making fools of themselves.

"So where's Lily?" James asked, after he tied the book with the belt again.  
"She's being interrogated by your mother." Jo giggled.  
"Shoot." James rushed out of the room to find Lily.  
"What was that about?" Naomi asked.  
"James' mother is oh so ready to tell all his embarrassing stories. She has some pretty funny pictures. I think he's trying to save himself some embarrassment." Sirius grinned.

"Oh, you should have seen James as a baby. He was so..."  
"Mother!" James came in the room, glad that he stopped her where he did. "What are you doing?"  
"I'm talking to your lovely girlfriend. You better hang onto her." Mrs. Potter smiled at Lily.

Lily smiled back. James caught a glimpse of her trying not to giggle. He could only imagine now what his mother had told her.

"Yea, mum. Well we're just going to go down to the den." James said, ready to get Lily out of there.  
"Ok, but darling, you have to stop by again sometimes. I have the funniest stories of James when he was a baby." Mrs. Potter laughed.  
"Ok, sounds fun." Lily giggled.  
"Yea, right. Bye mum." James took Lily's hand and led her to the den.

"So what kind of stories did you get, Lily?" Sirius asked.  
"Oh, all kinds," Lily looked at James and laughed.  
"Yea, my mum loves to tell stories." James shook his head.  
"I can tell. And thank you for the locket, I love it!" Lily smiled.  
"I'm glad you like it." James smiled and kissed her.  
"Gross! Get a room!" Sirius shouted, throwing a pillow at Lily and James.  
"Hey!" James shouted back, throwing a pillow back at him.

The pillow missed and hit Chelsea. She took the pillow and ended up hitting Remus, which started a huge pillow fight. The fight lasted about a half hour. By the time they were finished, there were feathers all over the floor. Everyone was lying on the couches, laughing, and talking about the new semester.

There were only two days left of vacation until everyone had to return to Hogwarts. Remus and Chelsea had gotten close over the holiday, and were hanging out in the coffee shop, talking and cuddling.

"So you're going to write me, right?" Chelsea asked.  
"Every day." Remus smiled and kissed Chelsea.

Meanwhile, James and Lily were walking hand in hand, down the snow covered road.

"So are you excited to go back?" James asked.  
"Yea, it's going to the best semester yet." Lily smiled and kissed James on the lips.  
"Yea, it will definitely be the best semester ever." James grinned and kissed Lily again.

They continued to walk down the road hand in hand. James gave Lily's hand a gentle squeeze. She smiled and gave his hand a gentle squeeze also. Walking past the coffee shop, they saw Chelsea and Taylor cuddling and waved to them as they kept walking. The sun was beginning to set; the sky turned a pinkish color. Lily and James dried off a snow covered bench and sat to watch the sunset. Lily rested her head on James' shoulder and he put his arm around her. They were about to kiss, when someone came out of nowhere and interrupted the moment.

"Hey Lily!" A voice seemed really excited.

Lily turned around to see who it was, while James sighed and rolled his eyes, wondering who in the world had such bad timing. Right when he turned around, he wished he hadn't. The one person in the world he probably most hated was standing right behind him.

"Hey Sev!" Lily smiled, getting up to hug her friend. "What are you doing here?"  
"Well, I'm visiting Emily." Snape smiled, hiding a grin when he saw out of the corner of his eye how unhappy James was that he was there.  
"That's awesome! I didn't know she lived here."  
"Yea, her family was living with us and we've been helping them move in all break. But their all settled now."  
"That's sweet."  
"So what are you doing here?"  
"I'm actually staying with Jo."  
"I see. That sounds like fun."  
"Well, sorry to cut this joyful meeting short, but Lily, we should be heading back." James stood up, ignoring Snape.

Lily gave him a, what's-the-problem look, but when James didn't respond, she turned back to Snape.

"Yea, Jo's probably wondering where I am, so I guess we'll see you later. We should hang out tomorrow." Lily gave Snape a smile and a quick friendly hug.

"Yea, we should." Snape smiled and waved goodbye to Lily.  
"Yea, ok. Bye." James said trying to get away from Snape as fast as possible.

James rolled his eyes as he grabbed Lily's hand and led her back home. Snape watched them leave, an evil grin creeping across his face.

"So what was that about?" Lily asked when they were almost home.  
"What was what about?" James looked confused.  
"Back there. With Severus."  
"Oh." James looked down.  
"Look, I know you don't like him James. But if you could just be nice, for me." Lily said.

She waited until James looked up into her eyes. She caught his gaze. Lily loved looking into his warm hazel eyes. She smiled and James gave half a smile.

"So?" Lily asked.  
"I guess… I can try to be nicer… for you." James said.  
"Good." Lily smiled and gave James a kiss. "I love you."  
"I love you too." James smiled and kissed Lily back.  
"So I'll see you tomorrow?" Lily said when they reached Jo's house.  
"Well…" James said, remembering that Lily was going to hang out with Snape.  
"How about I call you later, when we're done hanging out." Lily smiled.  
"Sounds good." James kissed Lily one last time as he walked her up the steps to the house.  
"Bye." Lily smiled.  
"Bye." James smiled back.

As soon as Lily closed the door, James walked home. As soon as he walked in the door, a sudden cloud of gloom formed over him. He found Sirius in the den laughing at Remus.

"Your sooo in love mate!" Sirius laughed at Remus.  
"Maybe just a little." Remus smiled.  
"Woah, what's up with you mate?" Sirius looked confused at James as James came in the room and plopped down onto the sofa.  
"Guess who's in town." James glared at the fireplace.  
"Who?" Remus asked.  
"Snape." James spat.  
"That git! What the hell is he doing here?" Sirius asked.  
"Apparently Emily and her family moved here over break. And his family is here to help them move in."  
"Where does she live?!" Sirius shouted.

There was no hiding that Sirius had still not gotten over his crush on Emily. She was probably one of the only girls in Hogwarts he had not yet snogged in a broom cupboard. Well, besides Lily and Adrian.

"Why would I ask? This was Snape telling us this information." James was still glaring.  
"Where did you see him?" Remus asked.  
"We were downtown watching the sunset when he just came out of nowhere."  
"Well it's not like you have to worry about him. I mean, we're going back to school in two days. It's not like your gonna see him." Remus reasoned.  
"Not me, but Lily. He asked her to hang out tomorrow. And there's no way I'm gonna be around him. So Lily said she would call me when they're done doing whatever they're gonna do." James grunted.  
"Sorry mate. We can get him when we get back to school." Sirius grinned.

James knew that grin all too well. James grinned too, excited about going back to school now.

"Lily!" Jo shouted when Lily walked into her room. "How was your date?"  
"It was awesome. And I saw Sev too." Lily smiled.  
"Really? What was he doing here?" Jo asked.  
"Emily moved here, and his family is helping her family move in."  
"Cool. So what did you and James do?" Taylor asked.  
"We took a walk then watched the sunset. We also saw you and Remus looking pretty comfy Chelsea." Lily laughed.  
"Yea, we were pretty comfy." Chelsea laughed also.  
"Aww… Chelsea's in love!" Naomi giggled.  
"So what did James say when you saw him?" Jo asked.  
"Nothing really. He just wanted to get out of there as fast as possible. But he said he's going to try to be nice to him, for me." Lily smiled.  
"James is such a great boyfriend." Naomi gushed.  
"Yea." Lily laughed. "So yea, tomorrow I'm going to hang out with Sev for awhile."  
"Sweet. I take it James isn't going to be going with you." Jo said.  
"No. But I'm going to call him when I get home. Can you believe that break is almost over. I mean, were going back the day after tomorrow."  
"I know. It kind of sucks. But that just means more time for me and James to be together."

The girls exchanged looks, then burst out laughing. They stayed up all night talking and laughing. Chelsea, Naomi, and Taylor would be leaving the next day and they were spending all the time they had left talking about anything and everything. They fell asleep at about 4 in the morning, and woke up at about 10, when Jo's mother called them down for breakfast.

"So did you girls have fun this winter?" Jo's mother asked.  
"Yes." Taylor said.  
"Tons." Naomi said.  
"Yes, lots!" Chelsea said, and everyone started to giggle.  
"What's so funny?" Jo's mother asked.  
"Nothing." Chelsea tried not to laugh.

"Well your mothers are expecting you home at 11, so when you're done eating, make sure you have all of your stuff packed." Jo's mother smiled and walked out of the room.

The girls finished eating in about 15 minutes when the door rang. Jo opened it to find James, Sirius, and Remus.

"Hey guys! Come in." Jo smiled and let them in.  
"Hey." They replied, walking in.

Jo led them upstairs where Naomi, Chelsea, and Taylor were packing their clothes.

"Hey!" Lily said, giving James a hug.

Chelsea looked up and smiled at Remus, and he smiled back. They talked, and it seemed like time flew by, because Jo's mother was telling them that it was time to go. Standing in front of the fireplace, everyone said their final goodbyes. Chelsea, Taylor, and Naomi said goodbye to their aunt and cousin. They all told Lily she had to write to them. They gave the guys friendly hugs, telling them it was fun to meet them. Chelsea gave Remus an extra hug and a quick kiss when Jo's mother wasn't looking.

"Write." Chelsea smiled.  
"I will." Remus smiled back.

Everyone said final goodbyes, and Chelsea, Naomi, and Taylor disappeared into the fireplace.

"Well we better go pack. These two haven't even started." Remus nodded his head towards James and Sirius.  
"It's not our fault. We got distracted." Sirius pretended to pout.  
"Uh huh," Remus shook his head and laughed.  
"Ok, we'll see you tomorrow then." Jo said.  
"And I'll call you later." Lily told James.  
"Ok. Have fun with… Severus." James forced the name out of his mouth.

Lily laughed and said goodbye to the boys so they could go pack.

"It's quiet in here now." Jo said flipping through a magazine as Lily got dressed to hang out with Snape.

Snape rang the doorbell at about 12:30. Lily told Jo she would see her later and headed out the door.


	10. Chapter 10

"So what are we going to do today?" Lily asked cheerfully.  
"Well, we can do whatever you want." Snape smiled.  
"There was this one book store that James and I passed this week, but he didn't want to go in."  
"Then we'll go there first."

The two walked side by side, talking and laughing, sharing their stories about break. When they entered the book store, Lily's eyes grew about four sizes.

"Woah." She whispered.  
"I know." Snape smiled.

The book store was four stories high, completely filled with books. Lily was like a little kid, running her finger over each title. Snape laughed. He loved seeing Lily happy. And soon, he would be the only one to make her happy.

Back at the Potter's residence, Sirius and Remus were busy packing, while James was pacing back and forth.

"Mate, your making me dizzy." Sirius said, watching him pace.  
"You need to just sit down and relax." Remus said.  
"How can I when that creep is out there with my girl?! He's probably feeding Lily crap that I'm a horrible person and she shouldn't see me anymore. He's probably trying to make a move on her right now!" James shouted.  
"You need to calm down. Why don't you go for a walk, get out of the house. Snape is not going to make a move on Lily. And if he did, she wouldn't let him." Remus reasoned.  
"Yea... I guess you're right. I'll be back later." James said, grabbing his coat then heading out the door.  
"We better hope that bloak isn't making a move on her, or there's going to be hell to pay." Sirius shook his head.

James walked down the street, glaring at the ground. He still couldn't believe that Snape was here. In his town! It just seemed like too much of a coincidence. Him and his cousin, being here all break. A thought hit him. Lucius and Avery didn't live in his town. So what were they doing here. Were they also helping Emily move in? James shook his head, trying to forget those bloaks. He started to get cold and thirsty so he headed inside the coffee shop. There, he took a seat on the sofa by himself. Before he ordered, someone came up behind him.

"James?" The voice said.

James turned around, not believing who it was.

They had spent nearly an hour and a half in the book store. Lily was finally at the checkout, seven new books in her hand. Snape had only two books.

"You amaze me." Snape laughed, looking at all the books she was getting.  
"I try." Lily grinned, and then started to laugh too.  
"I'm getting kind of hungry. What about you?"  
"Yea, me too. We should stop somewhere after this."  
"Sounds good." Snape said, a grin forming across his face.

"Emily?" James looked confused for a moment, then remembered. "Hey! I hear you moved into town."  
"Yup. We finally finished unpacking everything yesterday, thanks to Severus' family." Emily smiled, taking a seat next to James. "So how have you been?"

James thought for a moment, picturing Snape with his arm around Lily, laughing with her. He should be the one with Lily right now, not Snape. But he wasn't going to tell this to Emily, because they were family.

"Eh... I've been better." Was all he managed to say.  
"Oh? Care to explain?" Emily stared into his eyes.

James felt a strange feeling in his stomach, but he couldn't say exactly what he was feeling.

"Just... Lily." He said quietly, looking to the ground.  
"Well, she's a lucky girl, to have someone as great as you." Emily smiled, and James looked back up at her.  
"Yea." James started to think to himself.  
"You know, I've always thought you were pretty great too."  
"Huh?" James did not fully process what she had just said.  
"If I were Lily, I wouldn't be out with Severus right now, I'd be right here with you." Emily said seductively, her face getting closer to his.

James was pulled into her trance. She was right, James thought. Lily shouldn't be out with Snape, she should be here with him. And since she is out having fun with another guy, he can have fun with another girl. This last thought crossed his mind as he leaned in until his lips met with Emily's. He kissed her, unlike he had ever kissed Lily before. His kiss was full of passion, of anger, but he didn't let this stop him. Emily laid back onto the couch as James laid on top of her.

"Have you ever been to this place before?" Snape asked Lily.  
"A couple of times, but just to get a drink," Lily responded, as they walked through the door.  
"Table for two?" A waitress asked.  
"Yes please." Lily responded.  
"Right this way." The waitress led them to an extra high table with oversized chairs near the window. "I'll be back in a few minutes to take your order."

"Thanks." Lily and Snape said.  
"Everything looks so good." Lily said, looking at the menu.  
"It is really good. The first time I came here, I had trouble deciding what to get." Snape laughed.  
"Well I know hot coco sounds good with this cold weather." Lily laughed, looking out the window.  
"Yea, it does sound good."  
"Hmm... and a bagel sounds pretty good too. What are you getting?"  
"A grilled cheese." Snape said matter-of-factly.

They both stared at each other for a second then laughed. The waitress brought them a glass of water then took their orders. As Lily reached for her glass of water, she knocked her gloves on the ground.

"Oops." She said, climbing off of her chair to pick up her gloves. "It's only when I sit at these high tables do I know anything... off." Lily said, gazing at something.  
"What?" Snape asked, a confused expression on his face as he watched Lily go from extremely happy, to someone that was about to break down and cry.  
"James." She whispered loud enough where people on the other side of the room could hear.

Hearing that name, the figure she saw lying across the room looked up, to see a girl near tears staring at him.

"Oh shi..." James said quickly, getting off of Emily and standing up to make his way towards Lily.

It was too late though, Lily had already run out the door, followed by Snape. James ran after them, but was stopped by Snape.

"You've done enough." Snape said, attempting to stop James.  
"Get the hell out of my way you filthy git!" James roared.

Snape pulled out his wand and James quickly pulled out his. Snape tried to hex James, but James was too quick. He cast a full body bind over Snape and left him there, trying to catch up with Lily. Emily came out of the coffee shop, grinning from ear to ear. She reached Snape and let him out of the full body bind, both of them grinning from ear to ear.

"Lily! Please... stop!" James shouted after Lily, but she didn't turn around once.

Lily was trying to hold back her tears as best as possible, until she got to Jo's house. Finally getting there, Lily ran up the steps and slammed the door, locking it before James could get there. Lily ran up the steps into Jo's room, laid on her bed and started to cry. Jo looked absolutely bewildered.

James stared at the locked door and began to cuss. He couldn't believe he had ruined his chances with the girl he loved, just because he was upset that she was hanging with the guy he hated. He let his anger control his judgment. James walked home, entering his house, more gloomy that he had left.

"Lily! What happened?" Jo asked, shocked that her friend had come into the room crying.  
"He... I... him... Emily... snogging," Lily cried into the pillow.

Jo sat on the bed, rubbing Lily's back.

"Hun, I'm sorry, but I can't understand you."  
"James... cheated."

Jo's eyes widened.

"How do you know?" Jo asked.

Lily took a deep breath and sat up.

"I went to the coffee shop with Sev, and we saw James and Emily. Snogging like their life depended on it." Lily cried.  
"Oh, Lily! I'm so sorry. He's such a jerk." Jo hugged Lily.  
"It's ok. It's not your fault. I should never have let my guard down and liked him. This was all too good to be true. I'm such an idiot."  
"Lily, you're not an idiot. He is. Your an amazing person." Jo smiled.  
"Thanks." Lily wiped her eyes and gave her friend another hug. "I think I'm just going to take a nap."  
"Ok. If you need anything, just ask." Jo rubbed Lily's arm then left the room.

Lily curled up into a ball, thinking about what had just happened. She loved James, and she thought he loved her too. Apparently not.

Back at the Potter house, Sirius and Remus were confused when James came into the house, slamming the front door, then stomped up to his room.

"What was that about" Sirius looked at Remus.  
"I have no idea. Let's go." Remus said, getting up and walking to James' room.  
"What's going on?" Sirius asked walking in the room first.

James was lying face down on his bed, with a pillow over his head.

"Prongs? James? Helloo?" Sirius said, sitting on the bed by James.

Finally James sat up.

"I blew it." James said.  
"Blew what? And don't even think about it Sirius." Remus said sternly, knowing all too well that Sirius was about to make a remark.  
"What? I wasn't going to say anything." Sirius tried to look innocent.  
"I blew it with Lily." James looked disappointed.  
"What happened?" Remus asked.  
"Well... I didn't mean to. But you know how when I get mad, I don't have very good judgment. Well one thing led to another, and she saw us and now she hates me." James shook his head.  
"Ok mate, we're not mind readers, so you're going to have to explain a little better than that." Sirius said.

James sighed and closed his eyes.

"Lily saw me snogging Emily."  
"James..." Remus shook his head, wishing he hadn't heard that.  
"What?!" Sirius yelped.  
"Sirius, not now." Remus said.  
"But he, and he knew." Sirius stammered.  
"Sirius, please, not now." Remus rubbed his forehead.

Sirius looked disgusted and left the room.

"What's his problem?" James grunted.  
"James, did you or did you not know that Sirius liked Emily?" Remus asked.  
"I knew, but I didn't think he liked her that much. You know how he has a different girl every week. And, I don't know. I just wasn't thinking."  
"I don't know what to say James." Remus continued to shake his head.  
"I screwed up, huh?"  
"Yea."

James hit his head.

"I gotta talk to Sirius. I can probably get him to understand. I don't know how I'm going to get Lily to forgive me though."  
"Well you should talk to him soon, because school will be hell if everyone is fighting with each other."  
"Yea... I'm tired though, so I'm just going to get some sleep." James lied down.  
"Ok." Remus said, leaving James by himself, to think about everything that had happened.

James found Sirius in the kitchen, staring angrily at a bowl of fruit.

"Sirius..." James started, looking ashamed.

Sirius looked up at James for a second then went back to glaring at the bowl of fruit.

"I'm really sorry for what I did. I screwed up. I know it's not saying much, but I wasn't thinking. I was upset with Lily going out with Snivilus, and Emily was there at the coffee shop. She sat by me and we started talking and next thing I know, she was kissing me. I swear, I wasn't thinking at the time. It just, sort of happened. You know I wouldn't do that to you if I were thinking." James said apologetically.  
"Well, that doesn't happen very often." Sirius said, softening his expression and looking at James.  
"Yea." James ran his fingers through his hair. "Look, I'm really sorry. I've lost Lily, and I really don't want to lose you too."  
"Woah mate. Look, I like you as a brother, but don't go all mushy-gushy on me." Sirius smiled.

James grinned back.

"I probably would have done the same thing if I were in your position. Except I would have done it better." Sirius grinned.  
"Right." James laughed.  
"So how are we planning to get Snivilus back?"  
"What's going on?" Remus entered the room.  
"We're planning our revenge on Snivilus." Sirius said simply.  
"So I take it you two are fine now?" Remus asked.  
"Just dandy." Sirius replied, causing everyone to burst out laughing.


	11. Chapter 11

The time finally came when everyone had to board the Hogwarts Express back to school. The marauders were all in their compartment and Lily, Jo, and Adrian were in their own compartment. Lily was sitting by the window, her head pressed against the cold glass sleeping. Adrian and Jo were talking quietly.

"Emily and James did what?!" Adrian shouted in the quietest whisper she could.  
"Yea, and Lily walked in on them with Snape." Jo shook her head.  
"I can't believe James. How long has he been after Lily? And then he does that?"  
"I know." Jo nodded her head in agreement. "I can't believe it either."  
"Poor Lily. I wish I could have been there." Adrian looked at her friend, seeing hurt still in her face.

They sat in silence for a few minutes when the compartment door opened.

"How's she doing?" Snape came in, looking at Lily.  
"Hey Snape. She's... the same." Jo responded to him.  
"I can't believe Potter did that." Snape looked furious.  
"I know."  
"Well tell her I hope she feels better and if she wants to talk, I'm here for her." Snape said, walking out the door.  
"Ok, will do. Bye!" Jo smiled as Snape shut the door.  
"At least all guys aren't jerks." Adrian said.  
"Yea." Jo nodded, looking at Lily.

"What are you doing over here?" Sirius snarled at Snape, watching him leave the girls compartment.  
"I came to check on Lily. What are you doing here?" Snape glared back at the marauders.  
"We came here to see Lily." Sirius spat back.  
"Well, seeing she's sleeping right now, there's no point. Plus I highly doubt she wants to see your ugly faces."

James tried to leap forward, but Sirius and Remus held him back. Snape grinned.

"Jeeze Potter. So you finally get the girl you've been after all these years, and you blow it. Sucks to be you," Snape grinned even more, walking back to his compartment.  
"Come on James, you can talk to her when we get back to the castle." Remus said, heading back to their compartment, followed by Peter.

James sighed, looking into the girl's compartment. He saw Lily sleeping, her expression still filled with hurt. Taking another sigh, Sirius patted him on the back and they walked back to their compartment.

They approached the castle quickly, and James and Lily had prefect duties to attend to. Jo woke Lily up to let her know they were almost there. Lily yawned, stretched and stood up.

"You ok?" Jo looked at her friend.  
"Yea..." Lily looked down. "I'll see you at the castle."

Lily waved bye to Jo and somewhat grinned at Adrian, who was lying on her back on the bench, arm flopped over the side and her mouth open. As soon as she closed the compartment door, she noticed James making his way towards her. Lily quickly turned around.

"Lily!" James tried to get her attention.  
"I'll do this side, you do the other." Lily said taking a deep breath with her eyes closed.

James watched Lily, wishing she would look at him. After she was about five compartments down, he sighed and began checking the compartments on the opposite side. Lily made sure to finish her job quickly, so she could get back to her compartment. Just hearing James' voice wanted to make her cry. Lily held it together and as soon as she got back to her compartment, she buried her face into her knees.

"Lily?" Jo was puzzled. "Lily, what's wrong?"  
"I don't know. It's just..." Lily managed to say through her tears.

Lily didn't have to finish her sentence for Jo to understand. She gave Lily a hug and allowed her to cry on her shoulder the rest of the trip.  
James finished his job and slid back into his seat in the Marauder's compartment. He rubbed his eyes with his hands.

"How much sleep did you get last night mate?" Sirius asked his friend.  
"Not much." James replied. "I stayed up thinking about this whole mess."  
"Well you should get some sleep tonight. Maybe you can talk to her tonight?" Remus said.  
"Yea." James looked out the window to see the Hogsmead station.

He knew he would be able to talk to Lily at some point. They shared the same room. James had to talk to her soon though, because not talking to her was killing him.

The noise level in the Great Hall was high the next morning at breakfast, as everyone was getting ready to head back to class. James was sitting at the far end of the Gryffindor table when he was joined by Sirius, Remus, and Peter.

"Yea, I had a pretty good break too." Peter finished telling about his break to Sirius and Remus.  
"Hey mate. You look awful." Sirius glanced at James, sitting across from him.  
"Did you talk to her?" Remus asked.  
"Talk to who?" Peter was confused.  
"No... She didn't even sleep in her room." James sighed, rubbing his face in his hands.  
"She'll have to eventually. Just give her time. She probably just needs to cool down still." Remus reasoned.  
"What's going on?" Peter was looking for answers but no one was paying attention to him. After a minute he decided to just leave.  
"So where did she sleep?" Sirius questioned.

James shrugged.

"She slept in Jo and Adrian's room." Remus said simply.  
"How do you..." Sirius started.  
"I talked to Adrian earlier."  
"But doesn't Emily share a room with them?"  
"Oh, she requested to switch."  
"Can she do that? I mean, is there even any room to switch."  
"There was one bed open I know, because Shaeina Puziq was pulled out over break."  
"What?! Why?!" Sirius was completely surprised.  
"Her parents pulled her out. Since You-Know-Who's gotten stronger lately, her parents thought she would be safer at home." Remus shook his head.  
"But Hogwarts is..."  
"Yea. But seeing as her parents are muggles, they probably don't understand."

James dropped his head to the table.

"I'm never going to be able to talk to her." James sighed.  
"Don't think that mate. We still have a whole semester left. I'm sure you'll get your chance to talk to her." Sirius said.  
"We should probably be headed to class." Remus got up and was followed by Sirius and James.

"Lily, you have to eat something." Adrian looked at her friend with concern.  
"I'm not hungry." Lily responded, with no life in her voice.

Adrian and Jo exchanged glances.

"Lily, sweetie, you have to eat something. We have double potions and we can't have you passing out in there. And unless you want Slughorn to make a big deal out of this, I suggest you eat something. You're as pale as Sir Headless Nick." Jo reasoned to Lily.

Lily thought about it and decided to pick up a biscuit. Jo smiled and started a conversation that would hopefully take Lily's mind off of James. Before they knew it, they had to head off to class.

"We don't want to be late, so hurry up!" Adrian seemed excited to get to class.  
"What's your hurry?" Jo asked.  
"Nothing, I just don't want to have to sit next to a Slytherin."  
"Good point."  
"You guys go ahead. I gotta pick up the rest of my stuff." Lily told her friends.  
"You sure?" Jo asked.  
"Yea, I'll meet you there." Lily gave a half smile to her friends before they walked away.

Lily gathered the rest of her books. She needed time to be alone and just think. About anything except James. How could one guy hurt her so much? How could she let herself like him as much as she did? Shaking away these thoughts, Lily grabbed her last book and left the Great Hall. As she left, a pair of bright-blue eyes followed her figure. He saw how sad she looked, yet how adorable she was and he couldn't get her out of his mind.

Lily got to potions to find that Slughorn had changed the room up. Each table was divided, allowing only two people to sit at each table. Lily looked at Adrian and Jo, who gave her an apologetic look back. She passed Sirius, who did not look to happy, sitting next to Peter. The table behind them was Remus sitting next to James. Lily looked away before James could make eye contact with her. She passed a smirking Emily and a few other Slytherin girls. Snape had saved a seat for her, but she shook her head saying she wanted to sit by herself.

"Alright everyone, take your seats!" Professor Slughorn called, hurrying the students inside the classroom and shutting the door. "Find a seat. I hope everyone had a good break. But no time to talk of that now, we have to get started on today's potion..." Slughorn continued to talk as the remaining students found seats around the classroom.

A very unhappy Gryffindor girl got stuck sitting next to Snape. As Lily stared blankly at her desk, a voice came over her shoulder.

"Mind if I sit here?"

Lily looked up. Immediately she was struck by his beautiful blue eyes. For a moment, she forgot any sadness she had just been feeling. She even smiled a little.

"Yea," Lily replied brightly.  
"I'm Adam." He said, extending his hand.  
"Lily." She replied, shaking his hand.  
"That's a pretty name." Adam replied, grinning causing Lily to blush.  
"Thanks." Lily said.

Jo nudged Adrian and nodded towards Lily.

"He's cute. And she's smiling!" Adrian said happily for her friend.  
"He is." Jo responded.

While Jo and Adrian were happy on one side of the classroom, Sirius tapped on James' desk, pointing Lily and Adam out.

"Looks like you got some competition mate." Sirius said.  
"What is she talking to him for?" James looked annoyed.  
"Well, I'm pretty sure they're partners. And partners help each other make potions. And to do that, you have to talk to each other." Remus rolled his eyes at James, who was not getting the hint that Remus wanted him to help. "Don't worry about it now. And cut up those roots."

James sighed and began slicing the roots, not liking that Lily was talking to Adam.

Lily couldn't stop picturing his face. Those piercing blue eyes. His sandy-blond hair. The way he grinned when he talked to her.

"Hellooo? Lily?" Adrian waved her hand in front of Lily's face.  
"Wha? Oh sorry. What?" Lily came back from her dream, sighing.  
"Are you just gonna play with your dinner, or can i have your roll?" Adrian asked.  
"Here," Lily laughed, picking up the roll and handing it to Adrian.  
"Thanks!" Adrian smiled and ate the roll.  
"So, Lily," Jo looked over at Lily.  
"Yea?" Lily responded.  
"Adam's cute."

Lily looked down at her plate and tried not to blush.

"Oh, don't deny it. I could tell in potions that you fancy him." Jo said.  
"I don't _fancy_ him... I just think he's really nice." Lily couldn't help blushing.  
"And really cute."  
"I guess..."  
"Oh don't deny it Lily Evans, you know you think he is hot." Jo said a little too loud.  
"Who's hot?" Sirius dropped into the conversation, sitting next to Jo.  
"It doesn't concern you Sirius." Jo rolled her eyes.  
"Well, I just wanted to know if you were talking about me." Sirius grinned.  
"Hah. As if. No, in fact, we were talking about Adam. So you can go run along with your friends now because this conversation has nothing to do with you."  
"Well fine then." Sirius pretended to pout then got up to find Remus and James.  
"My goodness," Jo shook her head and turned back to her friends.  
"You know, if I didn't know any better, I would say you _fancy_ Sirius." Lily grinned.  
"What?! No!" Jo looked shocked.  
"I don't know. I think you may." Adrian agreed, finishing the roll.  
"Whatever." Jo tried to look mad, but it didn't work. "So Lily, when are you gonna go back to your room. Not like I'm trying to get rid of you, it's just your room is way nicer than ours. And bigger."  
"I don't know. I was thinking tonight. I know I can't avoid James forever. But I just don't want to be stuck there with just him."  
"Well we can come stay with you until you go to bed. Or we get tired." Adrian said.  
"Thanks." Lily smiled.

"So do you think she will ever come back here?" Sirius asked, sitting on the sofa in the Head's dorm room.  
"I don't know." James sighed.  
"I'm sure she will. She can't stay in Adrian and Jo's room forever." Remus put in.  
"Where's Peter?" Sirius asked.  
"I don't know actually." Remus looked around the room, as if Peter were hiding somewhere in there.  
"Huh, I haven't seen much of him around lately." Sirius said.  
"Me either. I think I saw him talking to Avery the other day. But I don't know what that was about."  
"Anyways, Prongs, you really got some major competition."  
"What are you talking about?" James tilted his head.  
"I overheard the girls talking about Adam Bagnold again at dinner."  
"That git." James grunted.  
"Why's he a git?" Remus asked.  
"Because... because he is." James couldn't find a reason.  
"Because he's trying to steal prongs' girl. That's why." Sirius put in, looking proud that he found a reason.  
"Right..." Remus shook his head.  
"What's that mean?" James asked.  
"Well... he's not really stealing your 'girl' because you and Lily aren't together anymore. And... never mind."  
"Whatever."  
"What's that?" Sirius looked around, hearing a noise.  
"It's the door..." James said without thinking. "You don't think...!" He finally realized.  
"Shh... let's see." Sirius said as they all watched the door open.


	12. Chapter 12

"... is cute." Jo giggled, stepping into the room.  
"Shh!" Lily stuck her finger to her lips as she walked in the door.

Adrian laughed as she followed in the door.

"What's going on here?" Adrian asked, looking at the guys who were being quieter than normal.  
"What? Oh, nothing." Sirius responded, as casual as normal.

Lily stood closest to the hallway, arms crossed and avoiding eye contact with James. She could feel his gaze, but didn't want to deal with anything.

"Hey guys, I'm going to bed. You don't have to stay." Lily looked at Adrian and Jo.  
"You sure?" Adrian asked.  
"Yea." Lily smiled.  
"Ok. We'll see you tomorrow." Jo said, as she and Adrian waved goodnight to Lily.

Everyone watched Lily walk down the hallway to her room. As soon as they heard the door shut Adrian and Jo headed for the door.

"Leaving already?" Sirius asked.  
"Yea, we gotta get to bed too." Jo replied.  
"Good night." Adrian and Jo said.  
"G'nite." The boys responded.

After Adrian and Jo left, the boys went back to talking.

"So... who do you think they were talking about?" James asked.  
"Huh?" Sirius was confused.  
"When they entered the room. They said that someone was cute."  
"Well, it was probably me." Sirius grinned.  
"Sirius..." Remus shook his head and stood up. "Well I'm going to get to bed too."  
"Same here." Sirius also stood up.  
"Ok. G'nite." James stood up after them.  
"G'nite." Sirius and Remus said, leaving the room.

James shut the door behind them and headed to bed, hoping that they weren't talking about Adam.

"So what do you think?" Goyle asked.  
"I think... that we're going to need more time." Avery responded.  
"How long?" Emily asked.  
"Not sure. But it definitely won't be done soon. A couple of months most likely," said Avery.  
"Are you sure about this? Isn't there any other way?" Severus didn't like the plan.  
"Do you want to figure out another way?" Avery hissed. "He wanted this done already. It's not good to make him mad. You heard what happened to Bertram Aubrey's family after his father made a mistake. He is not forgiving. Plus, if the plan works, think how greatly we will be rewarded. This may even save your mudblood friend." Avery grinned. "So... are you in?"

The three stared at Severus as he was deciding. Finally, he made a decision.

"Yea, I'm in." Severus put on his best fake grin, dreading everything that could go wrong with the plan.

Lily woke to the sound of birds chirping and the sun shining in her face. She tightened her eyes then sat up. Walking out of her room, Lily yawned as she made her way to the bathroom. Still sleepy she went to open the door. At the same time, it was being pulled open. Without meaning to, Lily fell forward and almost fell, but James caught her. Wide awake now, Lily got her balance back and looked at the floor.

"Sorry." She mumbled.  
"Yea... no problem." James looked down at Lily, wishing she would look at him.

They switched places and as Lily walked into the bathroom James watched her.

"I'm sorry I hurt you." James murmured.

Lily stopped. Standing for a minute, she finally started to slowly turn around and looked at James in the eyes for the first time in awhile. James took a step towards her.

"Lily, I'm so sorry I hurt you. If you could listen for just a minute?" James pleaded.

Lily thought about it for a few seconds before nodding. She stood in the doorway, hand still on the door knob.

"I know what I did was wrong, and nothing could make up for that. But I wasn't thinking. I felt... yea... that you were out with Sni... Snape. I know you trust him, but I didn't and I still don't. I went to that coffee shop alone thinking about everything he could be doing to you."  
"But you should have trusted me." Lily broke in.  
"I did. I mean, I do. But still... I don't trust him. And I was distracted when Emily came. Sort of in a trance. I didn't know what I was doing. Then I saw you and I don't know, I snapped out of it. And once I realized what was going on, it was too late. You already left. I know it doesn't make up for anything and I understand if you want to hate me for the rest of your life. I know I do. But I just hope you accept my apology and maybe we could be friends again? For the sake of awkwardness for everyone else?" James gave a half-hearted grin.

Lily stood leaning against the doorway processing everything James had just said. He sighed and turned towards his room.

"I don't hate you." James turned around. "Friends... sounds good." Lily smiled.

He looked at her and returned a huge grin. Lily laughed then shut the door to take her shower. James walked to his room to change into his robes, excited about the day.

Jo and Adrian were already at breakfast when they saw Lily enter the Great Hall, glowing.

"Well. You look happy." Adrian grinned at her friend.  
"Do I?" Lily grinned back, sitting across from Adrian and Jo.  
"What happened?" Jo asked.  
"Huh? Oh..." Lily smiled to herself.

Adrian and Jo exchanged glances, half confused and half amused.

"So... are you gonna tell us?" Jo questioned.  
"There's nothing to tell. Just that it's a great morning." Lily responded.

Jo shook her head laughing as Adrian took another egg and placed it on her plate. Lily followed, filling up her plate fast.

"Ok, now I know something's up. You only take that much bacon when something good happened." Jo dropped her jaw. "Did Andy ask you out?!"  
"What? No." Lily shook her head laughing.

As she looked up, she saw Sirius, Remus, Peter and James walk down the rows of tables. As they passed, Lily and James caught each other's eyes and grinned.

"Ohmehgawd!" Jo shouted, seeing the grin and causing Adrian to almost choke on her food.  
"Shh! You're being too loud!" Lily whispered, trying not to laugh.  
"So when did that happen?" Jo asked.  
"This morning. He apologized and we're friends now." Lily smiled.  
"That's good." Adrian laughed, taking a sip of her water.  
"Yea, but I can't wait till classes are over this week." Lily started on a new subject.  
"Why?" Jo tilted her head.  
"Hogsmead trip this weekend! Don't tell me you forgot."

Jo slammed her hand on the table.

"I totally forgot! So are you going with anyone?"  
"Just you guys I'm assuming." Lily responded.  
"Ok..." Jo got a huge grin on her face.  
"What?" Lily checked her face to see if anything was on it.  
"Well I'm just thinking... nothing. But are you sure you wanna go with us? Wouldn't you rather go with someone else?"  
"Are you trying to get rid of me? And who else would I go with?" Lily was confused.  
"How about me?" A voice came from behind Lily.

Lily turned around to see Adam standing behind her.

"So... what do you say?" Adam asked.  
"Yea. That'd be fun." Lily smiled and nodded at Adam.  
"Great! I'll see you around then." Adam grinned and waved goodbye to Lily.  
"Like I said... it's a great morning." Lily smiled as she turned around to finish the rest of her breakfast.

It seemed like forever, but the weekend finally came. Lily woke up to the sun shining in her face, excited about the Hogsmead trip. She quickly showered and headed to breakfast. Jo and Adrian joined her shortly after, followed by Sirius, Remus, Peter, and James. Everyone almost had a good breakfast, until Sirius started shoving as much food in his mouth as possible, causing everyone to lose their appetite.

"Is it possible for you to chew with your mouth closed?" Remus stared at Sirius.  
"I dun tin suh." Sirius replied, mouth stuffed with eggs.  
"Ugh... well I got to get a few more things before the trip so I'll meet up with you guys later." Lily shoved her plate away standing up.  
"Ok Lily." Jo said, looking at Sirius in disgust.  
"See ya later." Adrian said, eating another roll.  
"So who are you guys hanging with?" James asked Jo and Adrian.  
"Well... we're not going with anyone in particular. We will probably hang with Lily sometime too." Jo responded so Adrian didn't have to talk with a full mouth.  
"Aren't you hanging with Lily the whole time?" James was confused.  
"I don't know. Adam asked her, so she'll probably spend some time alone with him."

Sirius' jaw dropped open, causing already been chewed food to fall onto his plate. Remus stopped eating, while Peter was off in his own world, not paying attention.

"Git..." Sirius muttered under his breath.  
"What?" Jo looked at Sirius.  
"Nothing." Sirius responded, looking at James.  
"So when did Adam ask Lily?" Remus asked for James, who had seemed to have forgotten how to talk.  
"Earlier this week. Don't you think they would be cute together?" Jo began to draw random circles on her plate with a fork, looking into space.  
"Err... yea. Adorable." Sirius glanced from Remus' 'oh no' look to James' 'dumb-struck' look.  
"This should be a fun day." Remus leaned over to whisper to Sirius.  
"What?" Jo asked.  
"Nothing. But we should probably be getting ready for the trip." Remus wiped his mouth with a napkin and stood up.

Jo, Adrian, Sirius, and James followed. Sirius hit the back of Peter's head to get his attention and he stood up also.

Lily got to her room and fixed her hair, pulling the top back but left her bangs out. She grabbed her scarf, hat, gloves, and winter coat. Taking one last look in the mirror and smiling, she heard a knock on the door and opened it to find Adam, who escorted her out of the castle and to the carriages. They smiled and laughed the whole way, talking about anything and everything.


	13. Chapter 13

Adam escorted Lily out of the carriage, and they walked down the snow covered streets full of laughing students and prepared business owners. Adam led Lily down the road, further and further. It seemed like they were heading for nowhere.

"Where are we going?" Lily asked curiously.  
"You'll see." Adam smiled.

Shortly after, they arrived at a wooden fence. Behind it was a hill, and at the bottom of that hill was the Shrieking Shack.

"What is it?" Lily asked.  
"The Shrieking Shack." Adam replied.

Lily admired the building. It was old an looked broken, but still stood tall.

"I like it." She said, leaning on the fence.  
"Yea, it's pretty cool." Adam grinned, leaning over the fence. "It's also supposed to be haunted."  
"Right." Lily grinned at Adam.  
"Yea, every month at full moon, it's said that you can hear howling in it."  
"Oh, it just sounds so scary!!" A voice said sarcastically behind them.

Lily turned around to see James, Remus, and Sirius. James hit Sirius in the chest.

"Ow," Sirius gasped, acting like it had hurt.  
"What are you guys doing here?" Lily asked.  
"What? We're not allowed to come and visit the most haunted building in Britain?" James questioned back.  
"I doubt it's haunted." Lily rolled her eyes at James.  
"Oh, but it is." James stepped closer to Lily. "They say that violent spirits live there. That's why no one goes near it." James said with a sly look on his face.  
"Yea, well... ok, sure. Whatever." Lily shook her head laughing.

She looked down and grabbed Adam's hand.

"I'm cold. Let's get a drink?" Lily smiled at Adam.  
"Sure." He smiled back, squeezing her hand and leading her past the marauders.

As they passed, Lily gave one last to James before they headed to grab a drink at The Three Broomsticks.

"Prongs! You there mate?" Sirius waved his hands in front of James' face.

James watched Lily and Adam walk away until they disappeared into the door of The Three Broomsticks.

"What does she see in him?" James tilted his head to the side.  
"Well... besides being tall, funny, and handsome..." Sirius began.  
"Not helping!" James cut in.  
"I was joking mate. But you can't tell me you're stuck on her again. I thought you were over her." Sirius raised his eyebrow.  
"Well... yea, of course I'm over her." James knew he was lying to himself. "I just don't think that Adam is right for her. There's something about him that I really don't like." He stared down the road.  
"I'm sure there are tons of things you don't like about him mate. But I'm freezing, let's go in somewhere." Remus added to the conversation.  
"Yea, same here." James and Sirius agreed.

James shoved his hands into his coat pocket following Sirius and Remus thinking about everything that had happened over the past few weeks.

"Thanks." Lily smiled at the waiter that had brought over two butterbeers.

The waiter nodded and walked off.

"You have a beautiful smile." Adam grinned at Lily.  
"Thanks. You have a nice smile too." Lily responded, trying as hard as she could not to blush.

Adam began looking around the room getting a huge grin on his face.

"What are you doing?" Lily tilted her head confused.  
"Oh, just looking at how jealous everyone is because I'm here with the most beautiful girl in Hogwarts."

Lily couldn't stop herself from blushing and giggling.

"You definitely know how to make a girl feel special." Lily smiled.  
"You are special." Adam smiled back.

Lily sighed, staring into Adam's hypnotizing eyes and grabbed his hand. They both gazed at each other for about three seconds when the door to The Three Broomsticks was burst open by Sirius, his hands around another's neck looking furious followed by James who also looked furious and Remus who was trying to break them up.

Lily quickly took her hand back, her eyes wide open staring at the scene. Adam turned around and quickly stood up once he saw that Sirius looked like he was about to kill the kid. Adam broke in and restrained Sirius as Remus was able to grab a hold of James.

"What the bloody hell? Get off me!" Sirius struggled to free his arms of Adam's grip, but Adam was able to overpower him.  
"Hah. Not as tough as you think are. Filthy blood traitors." Avery glared and then spit at James' and Sirius' feet.  
"Lemme go." Sirius struggled again under Adam's grip, wanting one last hit at Avery.  
"Let it go. He's a stupid git." Remus tried to reason with James.

James shook his head looking at Avery, disgust in his eyes. Avery gave one last smirk before walking out of the door. Remus slowly let James go when he felt his muscles relax. Adam followed by slowly letting go of Sirius.

"Stupid gits." James muttered under his breath.  
"James, I'm sure they were just talking, trying to upset you. I'm sure it didn't happen like that." Remus looked at James.  
"What in the world was that about?" Adam was confused and scratched his head.  
"Nothing..." James stared at the floor, shaking his head. "Nothing at all."

With that James walked out the door by himself. Remus and Sirius called after him, but James didn't respond or look back so they decided to let him cool off. Lily stood up and walked over to Adam.

"I need to go talk to him." Lily looked at Adam, hoping he would understand.  
"Go ahead, I'll see you later." Adam smiled.

Adam bent over and gave Lily a kiss on the cheek. She touched the spot he kissed and smiled. Lily gave Adam one last smile then ran out the door to find James. Lily followed the path she had taken earlier with Adam on the way to the Shrieking Shack. She found James sitting on a rock near the forest staring at the Shack.

"James?" Lily said softly.

James looked quickly at Lily then quickly looked back at the Shrieking Shack.

"James, what was that about?" Lily stepped closer to James, her hands in her pocket and face turning red from the cold air.

All Lily saw from James was a shake from his head.

"James you can talk to me. What was that about?" Lily sat on the rock next to James.

James looked over at Lily then stared at the ground in front of him. He took a deep sigh and started to say something, but decided not to.

"What?" Lily asked.  
"Nothing." James shook his head, a partial smile forming on his face.  
"What?" Lily asked more curious.  
"How come your not with Adam?"  
"Because your my friend and it seemed like you needed someone to talk to and Adam understood that. But... I could go if you want."  
"No." James said. "I mean... aren't you freezing?" James looked at Lily's face turning bright red.  
"Not really." Lily lied, and James knew she was lying.  
"Here." James took off his hat and handed it to Lily.  
"Thanks." She smiled, taking James' hat and putting it on. "So are you gonna tell me?" Lily asked after she stuck the hat on.  
"It was nothing."  
"So you almost killed Avery over nothing?"  
"No. Not over nothing."  
"So then there was something?"  
"Yea, I guess."  
"So what happened?"  
"You ask a lot of questions." James grinned.  
"Yes, I know. So what happened?" Lily smiled back.  
"It was stupid, Avery and some other Slytherins being gits. Tried to jinx Sirius and me from behind."  
"How low."  
"I know!"  
"So that's all?" Lily tilted her head.  
"Yup." James smiled.

Here he was, all alone with Lily. She was wearing his hat and looked absolutely beautiful. But he couldn't have her because she was with Adam, plus his chances were ruined. And he couldn't tell Lily that he didn't exactly tell her the whole story of why Sirius and him nearly killed Avery. He couldn't tell her, because she would never believe him and it would ruin their friendship. And though he couldn't have Lily, he wanted to still be able to call her a friend. No, he couldn't be the one to tell her so for now, he would have to live a painful lie that had cost him the girl he loved.

"It's cold, let's go inside somewhere." James stood up, helping Lily up.

They walked side by side down the snow covered path, just talking like a pair of old friends who had not seen each other if awhile.

James and Lily ended up walking into Honeyduke's. James held the door open for Lily and made an over-exaggerated motion to let her in first. Lily laughed, shaking her head then walked inside. They looked around for a few minutes in silence. As Lily was looking at the sugar quills, James finally spoke the burning question he had.

"So... you like Adam, eh?" He said casually.  
"He's nice, but I'm not sure I like-like him yet." Lily responded, picking through the sugar quills.  
"Oh. Well he seems a little... fishy to me."

Lily stopped looking through the sugar quills and looked at James.

"What are you saying?" Lily looked questioningly.  
"Well... I'm just saying. Me and the marauders think he's up to something."  
"Remus thinks this?"  
"Yea." James hesitated to say.  
"I don't know what you guys are concerned about. Adam's a nice guy. I'm sure he'd grow on you if you gave him a chance."  
"Fat chance," James muttered under his breath.  
"What?" Lily tilted her head.  
"Nothing," James quickly began looking through the sugar quills too.  
"Guys are so confusing." Lily shook her head laughing.  
"Are not!" James defended.  
"Are so!" Lily laughed again.

To help with her argument, Lily took a handful of the sample Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans and threw them at James.

"Hey!" He acted shocked.

Lily grinned and stuck out her tongue. James laughed and made his way towards Lily. She tried to run away through the door, but James caught her from behind and picked her up before she could leave Honeyduke's.

"James! Put me down!" She managed to say through her laughter.  
"No way." James laughed.

James began walking but there were so many students that he was getting shoved backwards. As he was stepping backwards, he tripped over someone's foot. James tried to regain his balance but right as he went to hang onto the door, a student from the outside opened it. James and Lily went stumbling out of the door and onto the snow covered path. They both lied on the ground laughing, side by side. After a few seconds James stood up and offered his hand to Lily. She took it and began to dust snow off of her coat and pants.

"Sorry 'bout that." James was still laughing.  
"It's ok." Lily grinned, wiping the rest of the snow off of her.  
"Well we should probably start heading back." James said, noticing that the sun was almost gone.  
"Probably," Lily agreed.

James held out his arm and Lily wrapped her arm through his as they made their way back to the carriages.


	14. Chapter 14

"No way!" Jo shrieked.  
"Yea, I know!" Lily was out of breath, explaining why she never caught up with Jo and Adrian.  
"And he held your hand!" Adrian gushed. "You and Adam would make such a cute couple."  
"You would." Jo agreed.

Lily blushed, thinking about the great time she had had with Adam. She looked around the room, noticing almost everyone had finished their dinners. She then looked up at the enchanted ceiling. It was a nice cloud-less night, and the moon was almost full. As Lily looked up Jo and Adrian giggled. She looked down right when her eyes were covered.

"Guess who." The voice said.

Lily smiled and then touched the persons hands.

"Hi Adam," Lily tilted her head back and smiled up at him.  
"What are you doing tomorrow?" He asked, sitting next to her.  
"Well... probably some homework." Lily started thinking about everything she had to do before classes started again on Monday.

As she was thinking about everything she had to do, Jo kicked her shoe from under the table.

"Hey!" Lily looked at Jo, wondering why she kicked her.

Jo widened her eyes at Lily, and Lily gave a nod of understanding.

"But those things shouldn't take me that long, what did you have in mind?" Lily turned her attention back to Adam.  
"Well, tomorrow night there is supposed to be an amazing meteor shower." Adam replied.  
"Sounds like fun!" Lily quickly responded.  
"I'll see you tomorrow then." Adam smiled, giving Lily a kiss on the cheek before heading up to his room.

As soon as Adam let the door to the Great Hall close, all three girls shrieked.

"Oh my gosh!" Adrian and Jo said together and they all began to laugh, noticing everyone left in the Great Hall was looking at them like they were crazy.

"So tomorrow should be fun." Sirius said, looking at James, Remus, and Peter.  
"Why's that?" Remus asked.  
"Full moon," Sirius grinned.

Remus shook his head as they began to laugh.

"It should be a nice night too." James added.  
"Really?" Peter squeaked, hoping to add to the conversation.

James nodded.

"There's supposed to be a wicked meteor shower tomorrow." James grinned.  
"And I'm not going to be able to remember it." Remus frowned.  
"Aww..." Sirius faked sympathy and Remus chucked a pillow at him. "Hey! Anyways, so you had a good time with Lily, James?"  
"Yup." James grinned.  
"Any details?"  
"Nope."  
"C'mon, you can tell me. I'm your best mate."  
"And what does that make me?" Remus asked.  
"His second best mate." Sirius responded as Remus laughed, shaking his head. "So anyways, what did you guys do? We didn't see you after Avery and those Slytherines we're being gits."  
"We just hung out." James said.  
"Did you tell Lily?" Peter asked.  
"Are you crazy? She would think I'm lying anyways, and she wouldn't even let me be her friend." James shook her head. "If she found out, I don't know." James just imagined the look on Lily's face if she found out. "But anyways, tomorrow should be fun."  
"Yup," Sirius agreed.

Lily stood looking in the mirror at herself. She had her hair down in curls with hoop earrings on. She put on a warm green jacket over her white shirt.

"Why you all dressed up?" James asked, walking out of the shower with just a towel on.

Lily looked at him then quickly looked away, shaking her head trying not to laugh.

"Can you put some clothes on?" Lily couldn't help but laugh. She ran her fingers through her hair.  
"But I was planning on going around like this the rest of the day." James said.

Lily turned around, raising her eyebrow and put her hands on her hips.

"Fine. You take away all the fun." James pretended to pout.

James walked to his room and came out a minute later with a pair of baggy jeans and a red sweater on.

"So now can you tell me?" He asked as Lily was putting a pair of shoes on.  
"I'm going to hang out with Adam." She responded.  
"Oh." James said, trying not to sound jealous. "Cool. Well I gotta get going too."  
"Where are you going?" Lily stood up after finishing tying her shoes.  
"Marauder business." James grinned.  
"Well don't get into too much trouble. You supposed to be setting an example for the younger students remember."  
"I remember." James laughed. "I'll see you later." James grabbed his coat and walked out the door.  
"Bye." Lily said watching him leave.

She sighed, looking in the mirror. She played with a few strands of hair until she felt they were in the right place. Right as she sat down, there was a knock on the door. Lily smiled to herself and got up to open the door. Standing in the doorway was Adam, smiling back at her.

"Ready to go?" He asked.  
"Yea." Lily smiled, taking the arm Adam had extended to her.

He escorted her out of her room and through the castle.

James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter hurried across the school grounds towards the Whomping Willow. Their eyes were on the sky, watching as the moon rose into the air.

"I can't believe we're gonna miss it." Remus complained the whole way.  
"Oh just give it a rest Moony. There will be other meteor showers for you to ogle at." Sirius said.

Remus looked over at Sirius then focused on getting to the tree on time.

"You took the potion right?" James asked.  
"Oh geeze. I've only done this how many times? Yes, I remembered to take the potion." Remus replied annoyed.  
"Mate, we PROMISE there will be other meteor showers you can watch." James laughed.

Remus tried to give a nasty look to James, but couldn't hold it and ended up laughing. They had reached the Whomping Willow and James pulled out his invisibility cloak, put it on and pushed the spot on the tree to freeze it.

"Are you guys coming?" Remus asked as he and Peter made their way to the tree.  
"We'll be there in a sec." Sirius responded.  
"Ok." Remus headed down into the tree.

As soon as Peter and Remus disappeared into the tree, Sirius turned to James.

"What's up?" Sirius questioned.  
"What do you mean?" James asked, confused.  
"You seem out of it."  
"Really?"  
"Don't play dumb. I know that something is bugging you. What is it?"

James sighed.

"I don't know. I guess I'm just thinking about..." James paused.  
"Lily?"  
"Yea." James nodded.  
"Mate, you're not gonna like what I have to say but you need to move on. There are other fish in the sea. You can find another great girl. Plus, Lily is with Adam now."  
"Yea... well let's get down there before the fun starts without us."  
"There's the Prongs I know." Sirius grinned, slapping James on the back before they headed down the tree.

"It's such a nice night." Lily smiled looking up at the sky. "Perfect night for a meteor shower."  
"Yea," Adam smiled at Lily. "There?"

Adam pointed to a spot under a bare tree.

"Perfect." Lily smiled up at Adam.

Adam laid a blanket down under the tree. He sat down first and Lily sat next to him, close enough so he could put his arm around her shoulder. They looked around the grounds, noticing a few other couples enjoying the nice night, in anticipation for the meteor shower.

"This is going to be amazing. I hear it's supposed to be one of the best meteor showers in years." Lily looked up at the sky.  
"You're amazing." Adam smiled, looking at Lily.

Lily looked up at him and smiled too.

"Lily Evans, will you be my girlfriend?" Adam asked.  
"I would love to be your girlfriend Adam Bagnold." Lily smiled.

Adam leaned over and gave Lily a soft kiss on the lips, right as the first meteor appeared in the sky and a howl came from the distance.


	15. Chapter 15

Adam and Lily broke apart and looked up into the sky, each with a huge grin on their face. They looked up in awe at the meteors flying across the sky. A few minutes after the meteor shower started, they heard a distant scream and a howl. Lily looked around trying to see where the noise came from.

"What's wrong?" Adam asked.  
"Did you hear that?" Lily responded.

Adam was about to speak but Lily hushed him. They heard another howling sound.

"What was that?" Lily asked, trying not to sound frightened.  
"I'm not sure." Adam said, looking around.  
"Ohmygosh." Lily wrapped her arms around Adam as terror filled their eyes.

"I can't believe you left it open!" Sirius shouted, running across the grounds.  
"Me? You were with me too don't forget. So part of this is your fault." James defended himself.  
"Where's Peter?"  
"I think he stayed behind. He wet himself when Remus took off towards the door." James looked down at his scraped elbow, trying to forget the pain.  
"Hah. It looked like Remus was getting a bit hungry when he saw him." Sirius laughed.  
"Yea. I heard him. It sounds like he's getting close to the school."  
"Let's go." Sirius said, transforming into a dog.

James was right behind him, transforming into a stag. They sped across the grounds, searching everywhere for Remus. Of all the nights for the full moon to occur, it just had to be the same night where many students would be outside, not aware that a werewolf was close to them. James followed behind Sirius, but when Sirius stopped and barked at him from the top of the hill, he moved quicker. James looked down the hill at students running for their lives. Sirius barked again, and James this time noticed a couple cornered by a tree. Horror filled James' eyes. He quickly turned back to his human form and Sirius took off first. Sirius barked at Remus the werewolf, and jumped on him once Remus took his attention from Adam and Lily to Sirius. They moved off a couple of yards and James sprinted down the hill to Adam and Lily.

"You have to get out of here now." James said with panic in his voice.

Lily and Adam started to move, but Lily stopped when she didn't see James come with them.

"James! We gotta get out of here." Lily shouted.  
"Go! I'll be fine." James tried to shoo them off.  
"James I'm serious, we all have to get out of here."  
"Trust me Lily. Just go!"

Lily looked James straight in the eyes. He did not flinch, he did not blink. His face was the most serious she had ever seen.

"Lily we gotta get out of here." Adam tried to pull Lily along.

Lily stared at James a moment more, then turned around and ran back to the castle with Adam. James watched them until they entered the door to safety. Once they did, he turned around and transformed back into his stag form and went to go find Sirius and Remus.

Adam slammed the door shut, looking around the room with Lily to see all the other students who had been outside a few minutes before also panting.

"Adam, we have to make sure James is alright." Lily pleaded, trying to open the door.  
"He said he would be fine Lily. We just need to stay here until one of the professors says it's safe." Adam replied, not moving away from the door.  
"But..." Lily was cut off by the sudden silence of the room.

Turning around, she saw Professor Dumbledore gliding across the room. After asking a group of students what was wrong, he began to speak.

"I need all students to head back to their dormitories immediately." Dumbledore said with a sense of seriousness in his voice.  
"But Professor..." Lily began, but Dumbledore shook his head.  
"No butt's. To your dormitories now."

Adam grabbed Lily's hand, pulling her along up to the Gryffindor common room. There they were met by Jo and Adrian.

"Lily!" Both Jo and Adrian shouted, jumping up from their seats and giving her a hug.  
"What's going on?" Jo asked.  
"Is everyone alright?" Adrian asked right after Jo.  
"Where are James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter?"  
"Slow down!" Lily broke their questions, and sat down on one of the sofas, Adam sitting next to her and Adrian and Jo sitting across from them.  
"So what's going on?" Jo asked.  
"There was a werewolf." Lily said.  
"What?!" Both Jo and Adrian shouted.  
"Yea. We were outside with some other students watching the meteor shower, when a werewolf came. We ran inside and Dumbledore sent us back here." Lily informed them.

Adrian and Jo were still trying to process the fact that there was a werewolf on school grounds.

"So is everyone alright?" Adrian asked.

Lily looked at Adam then looked down at her hands.

"I don't know." Lily said, looking up at her friends.  
"Who..." Adrian started.  
"James." Lily said.

Adrian and Jo exchanged glances, and Adam put his arm around Lily's shoulder.

"He'll be alright." Adam tried to comfort her.  
"What happened?" Jo asked.  
"Well... we saw him and he told us to get back to the castle. But he didn't come with us. I think... I think he went after the werewolf." Lily closed her eyes, trying not to think about what could be happening to James right now.  
"I'm sure he'll be alright." Adrian said.  
"Yea..." Lily tried to convince herself.  
"So then where are Remus, Sirius, and Peter?" Jo asked.  
"They..." Lily looked up. "That's a good question. Where are they?" Lily looked at Adam, who shrugged.

The four sat silent for awhile, thinking of what could be happening to the marauders. It seemed like forever when Lily decided to head back to her head dorm.

"We'll see you in the morning Lily." Jo and Adrian gave Lily a hug goodnight.

Adam got up and escorted Lily to her dorm. They were silent the whole walk. When they got to the dorm, Lily stopped in front of the door.

"Thanks for walking me. I'll see you tomorrow." Lily smiled at Adam.  
"Goodnight." Adam smiled and gave Lily a kiss on the cheek.

Lily smiled again and walked in the door.

"Night." Lily said, before closing the door.

Lily sighed looking around her empty room. She wondered where James was, what was going on, and if he was ok. Lily started a fire after taking her coat and shoes off, and sat on the sofa. She stared into the fire trying to clear her thoughts. Looking at the clock, it was about 1 a.m. Lily could feel herself getting more and more tired. A few minutes later she let her eyelids drop and fell into a dream. She recognized this one, for it had been reoccurring many times over the past few weeks. It was night time and she was at home with her family, laughing with them. Suddenly, there was a crash outside. Everyone stood up, trying to figure out what was wrong. Suddenly a red light came crashing through the window and hit her father. Her mother and sister screamed as she stood there, in shock about what was happening. Flames formed outside the window and more flashes of light came through the windows, along with the sounds of laughing strangers. She recognized one of the spells sent through the window as a curse. Wanting to make sure her mother and sister weren't hurt, she jumped in front of them, being hit with the cruciatus curse.

"N-no... s-stop... please stop..." She pleaded.

More spells were cast into the room, and she watched helplessly as her mother and sister were hit with sectumsempra.

"No!" She shouted.

Lily went into fits, as she heard her name being called.

"Lily... Lily!"

Lily finally pulled herself out of her dream to see James leaning over her.

"Lily, are you ok?" James looked worried.  
"Y... yea. Bad dream." Lily said, her breathing returning back to normal. "Are you ok?"  
"Yea, I'm ok."  
"What happened?"  
"What do you mean?"  
"James, you know exactly what I mean. What happened tonight?"  
"Nothing."  
"James. You can tell me."

James stood up.

"Talk to me James. What went on down there?"  
"Nothing. I'm going to bed."

Before Lily could protest, James was down the hallway and in his room. She shook her head and shivered, trying to forget the nightmare. Lily stood up and decided there was nothing she could do to get James to talk to her tonight so she walked slowly to her room and went to bed.

By the time Lily got up in the morning, she noticed she missed breakfast already so she decided to take a long shower. James had already left, and was probably with the marauders. Lily hadn't slept well that night, trying to figure out what James was hiding from her. She decided to just shrug it off until she saw him again. Getting out of the shower, Lily put on a comfy pair of jeans and a soft sweater. She dried her hair, straightening it and pinned just her bangs back. Lily put on her shoes and made her way down to the Great Hall for lunch. Adrian and Jo were not there, but she noticed Adam already at the table.

"Hey." Lily smiled, kissing Adam on the cheek and sitting next to him.  
"Hey beautiful," Adam smiled. "I missed you at breakfast."  
"Yea. I got to sleep late last night, so I ended up sleeping in."  
"Oh. Well then miss sleepy head, I guess you haven't heard the news yet then."  
"What news?"  
"About the next quidditch match. Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff."  
"When is it?"  
"Next Saturday."  
"Ok. Are you going?"  
"I was just going to ask you that." Adam smiled. "Go with me?"  
"Of course." Lily smiled.

They leaned in to kiss when someone interrupted.

"Oh great. You're gonna be one of THOSE couples?" Adrian whined as she and Jo sat across from Lily and Adam.  
"Adrian!" Jo hit Adrian on the arm.

Lily and Adam broke apart and laughed.

"So are you guys going to the game next week?" Adrian asked.  
"Of course. We wouldn't miss you play." Lily replied.  
"Good, 'cause I thought I was gonna have to force you, like I had to do with Jo."  
"Hey! I said I would go." Jo defended herself.  
"Yea, after I told you I wouldn't help you with your potions essay." Adrian laughed.  
"Yeah yea... So where were you at breakfast Lily?" Jo asked.  
"Tired, so I slept in." Lily responded, noticing out of the corner of her eye the marauders enter the Great Hall and quickly leave. "Hey I forgot about some homework so I'll see you at dinner."  
"Ok. See you." Adam replied as Lily gave him another kiss on the cheek.

Adam turned back to Adrian and Jo after watching Lily leave the Great Hall looking for an explanation of why she left so suddenly, but they both shrugged.

"This is torture." James whined.  
"What's torture?" Remus asked.  
"Running out of the Great Hall is torture. I'm hungry, and the food is in there." Sirius complained.

James shot Sirius a 'Don't-Start-With-Me' look.

"Woah. What's going on mate?" Sirius asked.  
"Lily. She wants an explanation for last night. And I'm not going to be able to give her one. And I hate lying to her." James said.  
"James, you can't tell her." Remus got wide-eyed.  
"I know. It's just..." James stopped talking as he noticed Lily walk out of the Great Hall towards them.

Sirius and Remus also noticed Lily walking their way and stopped with James.

"We'll see you later mate." Sirius said.  
"Yea. And please don't say anything." Remus looked worried.  
"Don't worry. I know what I can say." James reassured them as they walked away and Lily caught up to him. "Hey." James smiled at her.  
"Hey." Lily responded, and James began walking at a slow pace with her.  
"So what's up?"  
"James... I need to know what went on last night. You scared me half to death and then come back to the room like nothing happened. What went on last night?"  
"Lily, you know I'd trust you with my life. And I would tell you if I could it's just... I can't. I'm sorry I scared you so much, but it really was nothing." James explained.

After a long pause James looked down, not knowing how Lily was going to react.

"Ok." Lily finally said.

James looked at Lily.

"I'll trust you." She added.  
"Thanks." James grinned.

They picked up their walking pace.

"So are you coming to watch us destroy Hufflepuff on Saturday?" James asked.  
"You're too cocky. What if Hufflepuff beats you?" Lily laughed.  
"Hufflepuff beat Gryffindor? Hah, never." James laughed too. "So are you going?"  
"Yea, I'll be there." Lily responded.  
"Cool." James smiled.

* * *

**I hope everyone is enjoying the story! Leave comments to let me know what you think =]**


	16. Chapter 16

**Thanks Dawn Willow! Your comment made me =] so I decided to put up another part. **

* * *

The week seemed to never end. On top of the piles of homework they had gotten, Lily had been stressing over the reoccurring dream she was having. Each time the same, each time feeling worse that the last. She tried not to worry about it too much though, because she had essays to get done before the quidditch game the next morning. Lily was sitting at a table in the Gryffindor common room across from Adam. Adrian was gone along with James at last minute quidditch practice. She wondered how that was going because as far as she knew Emily was still on the team. Lily closed her eyes, trying to forget the memory and opened them to see Adam staring across the table at her.

"You ok?" Adam asked.  
"Yea, just a bit tired." Lily responded.  
"Want me to walk you to your dorm?"  
"That would be nice." Lily smiled.

They packed up all their books and left the common room. Adam grabbed Lily's hand as he walked with her up to her dorm. When they reached her dorm, Adam kissed Lily and said goodnight. Closing the door, Lily set her books down on the table and looked at the clock. It was 11 p.m. She figured James would be getting back to the dorm soon. Feeling too tired to wait up for him, Lily went to bed.

"Is everything set up?"  
"Yea, but he didn't say a word to me at practice."  
"Go figure."  
"Well, he coulda at least said 'Hello'."  
"Em, I'm pretty sure he's not in that friendly of a mood with you."  
"Shut up Avery." Emily glared at Avery who was smirking at her.  
"Don't be so sensitive. Anyways, maybe this'll cheer Severus up. He's seemed so down lately."  
"Oh, he'll love it!" Emily grinned. "You remember the words?"  
"Yupp."  
"Ok, well I'll see you tomorrow." Emily winked at Avery and went to bed.

Lily woke up the next morning, put on Gryffindor colors, and headed down to breakfast. She found Jo and sat across from her.

"Adrian ready?" Lily asked.  
"She's pumped." Jo pointed over at Adrian who was sitting with the rest of the Gryffindor team.

Lily looked over and caught glances with Emily, who smirked at her then whispered to James. Lily rolled her eyes, hiding the strange feeling she got in her stomach.

"Just ignore her." Jo said, shooting a nasty glare at Emily who dropped her smirk and turned around.  
"There's just something about her... Like I'm totally over the whole thing that happened over break, but there's something about her I just don't trust." Lily said.  
"I know what you mean. She does seem a little..."  
"Suspicious?"

Lily turned around to see Adam sit next to her.

"Hey." Lily smiled as Adam gave her a light kiss on the lips.  
"So who are we talking about?" Adam asked.  
"Oh, no one special," Lily responded.  
"Uh huh," Adam laughed. "So are you excited about the match?"  
"Super duper excited!" Lily faked enthusiasm.  
"Aww... come on, it'll be fun!" Adam said.  
"I guess it could be..." Lily half smiled, imagining Emily tripping and falling on her face as she entered the quidditch stadium.  
"Well I have to go get a jacket so I'll meet you down there."  
"Ok."

Adam gave Lily another light kiss on the lips before he went up to the boy's dormitory to get his jacket.

"So you and Adam seem to be doing well." Jo grinned and Lily laughed.  
"Yea," Lily tried not to blush.  
"He's a sweetheart."  
"You just can't stop talking about me, can ya?" Sirius said sitting down next to Jo.  
"You just can't stop thinking that we're always talking about you, can ya?" Jo rolled her eyes at Sirius.  
"So you excited for the game?" James joined in, sitting next to Lily.  
"Yea, I guess." Lily responded.  
"You guess? Come on, you gotta be at least a little more excited for the fact that we're gonna win."  
"Still haven't lost your confidence I see."  
"And don't plan on it."  
"Don't you guys have to go get ready?" Jo asked.  
"Probably. But not before a good luck kiss." James grinned.  
"No." Lily shook her head laughing.  
"I'm not going until I get a good luck kiss. And I'm sure you don't want the school mad at you if I don't show up."

Lily shook her head and gave James a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Now go!" Lily laughed.  
"How about me?" Sirius asked looking at Jo.  
"Not in a million years." Jo responded.  
"I can wait." Sirius grinned as James grabbed him and dragged him off to find the rest of the team so they could walk to the quidditch pitch together.  
"What was that?" Jo asked Lily when the guys were gone.  
"What?" Lily asked confused.  
"You're not going back there again are you?"  
"No. We're just friends."  
"Didn't look like it."  
"It was a friendly kiss on the cheek. Plus, I'm with Adam." Lily smiled.  
"Ok, just don't forget that."  
"I won't." Lily sighed. "We should head down there now." She stood up.  
"Ok." Jo replied, noticing an extra glint of happiness and desire in Lily's eyes.

Lily was quick to change the subject with Jo, so on their way to the quidditch pitch Lily brought up Sirius.

"You guys would be so cute." Lily giggled.  
"No way. He's so..." Jo couldn't find the right word to describe Sirius.  
"Just admit it. You like him."  
"Not in a million years."  
"Well, he can apparently wait a million years." Lily raised her eyebrow at Jo.  
"Shut up!" Jo laughed.  
"Hey Lily!" A voice came from behind them.  
"Hey." Lily smiled looking at Snape running to catch up with them.  
"Great." Jo mumbled under her breath turning around and rolling her eyes.  
"You excited about the game?" Snape asked.  
"I guess. So who are you rooting for?" Lily asked.  
"...Gryffindor." Snape said after much hesitation, trying to hold back a grin.  
"Cool. Are you gonna sit with us?"

Jo closed her eyes, praying that Snape would say no.

"Actually, I have to meet up with some people." Snape responded. "Don't worry." Snape responded after he saw the concerned look Lily gave him.  
"Just don't get into trouble."  
"I won't. But yea, I gotta go meet up with them right now so I'll see you later."  
"Ok." Lily said, giving Snape a friendly hug as they went opposite ways.  
"I wonder where he's going." Lily pondered.  
"I don't. He seriously creeps me out." Jo shivered.  
"Be nice!" Lily laughed.  
"Well..." Jo also laughed.  
"There's Adam!" Lily pointed as they picked up pace to meet him.  
"Hey." Adam smiled as he gave Lily a kiss on the cheek.  
"Hey." Lily smiled.  
"Geeze, where's Remus? I don't wanna be stuck all alone with the love birds." Jo teased.  
"You called me?" Remus said, making his way through the stands followed by Peter.  
"Yes, I don't want to be stuck here alone with the love birds." Jo laughed.  
"Well then it's a good thing I'm here." Remus shook his head laughing.  
"Hey, I'm here too!" Peter added in.  
"Er... yea, you are." Remus said, looking at Peter then back to Jo trying not to laugh.  
"There's Madam Hooch! It's about to start!" Lily said, getting Jo and Remus' attention.

"Everything a go?" Avery whispered to Emily as the teams made their way to the pitch.  
"Yup." Emily answered.  
"Great." Avery smiled.  
"Have you told Severus yet?"  
"Not yet. But I'm having him meet me. I'll fill him in when he finds me."  
"Good. Well I gotta catch up." Emily left Avery and caught up with her teammates, looking over her shoulder to see Avery walking the opposite way.

"Today's match up is Hufflepuff vs. Gryffindor." Lee, the announcer, began his pre-game speech.

As the line-ups were read and everyone made their way into the air, James noticed Emily staring at him with an awkward grin. He was confused for a moment, but shook it off and focused his mind on catching the snitch. Before they knew it, the game begun. The stands erupted in cheers as the teams scored points. Gryffindor was up 70-50 when Sirius noticed James had held his place for quite a long time.

"James! Get your head in the game!" Sirius shouted, hitting an incoming bludger at one of the Hufflepuff chasers.

James wasn't sure why he was so out of it, but something didn't feel right. Shaking his head, he felt air rush past his ear. Turning his head he saw the snitch flying ahead of him. Quickly he began to chase after it. The Hufflepuff chaser noticed this too and was right behind James.

"What?" Snape was completely shocked.  
"Yea, isn't it great?" Avery seemed really excited.  
"But..."  
"Don't tell you've gone soft for him. I'm sure the Dark Lord wouldn't like to hear about this."  
"I... no. Do it." Snape reluctantly agreed.  
"Come on, it'll cheer you up. We just have to wait for the exact moment. Which looks like it will be coming up soon." Avery said, an evil grin forming across his face as he watched James get closer and closer to wrapping his hand around the snitch.

Lily squeezed Adam's hand as James got closer and closer to the snitch. The crowd held their breath as the anticipation if he would catch the snitch grew larger and larger. James extended his hand, gripping his broom with the other hand tighter as if it would make him fly faster. Taking a quick look behind him, he saw the Hufflepuff seeker catching up to him. Focusing his attention back to the snitch, James extended his arm as far as it would go. Getting closer and closer, he could feel the wind from the snitch on his fingertips.

"Go James!" Lily shouted, followed by all the Gryffindors and most of the Ravenclaw students who had decided to cheer for Gryffindors.

James heard the crowd shouting his name which gave him the adrenalin rush to speed up enough to wrap his fingers around the snitch. The crowd erupted in cheers. Right when James went to thrust his fist in the air, he knew something wasn't right. His broom seemed to be acting on its own. It rose quickly to about fifty feet in the air. James was thrust up, down, left, and right. The crowd got silent as they tried to make sense of what was going on. James tried to hold on to his broom the best he could, but was having difficulties. His broom knocked him off and he was just holding on. The Gryffindor crowd shrieked as they watch their star quidditch player holding on for his life. The rest of the Gryffindor team tried to help but it seemed like an invisible shield was placed around James' broom. James attempted to hold on, but the broom flicked left and right so fast that it threw him off. It had all happened so fast that the crowd held their breath as they watched him fall. Lily buried her face in Adam's chest not wanting to watch while Remus jumped to his feet and Jo and Peter covered their eyes.

Students crowded in the hospital wing, impatiently waiting to find out how James was. Lily sat in Adam's lap, Adam's arms wrapped around her as she buried her face in his chest. The remainder of the Gryffindor team waited in the corner, minus Emily who was nowhere in sight and Adrian who was sitting by Jo and the Marauders. Other friends and fellow students were scattered around the hospital wing as they watched Madam Pomfry do something to James' arm.

"How is he?" Sirius managed to mumble.  
"Not so well right now, but he should heal." Madam Pomfry replied.  
"Should?" Adrian blinked.  
"Oh, don't worry dear." Madam Pomfry added, trying to reassure the students. "He has a few broken bones, which I was able to mend."  
"So when will he wake up?" Remus questioned.  
"That my dear, I cannot say. I'm sorry but all of you really can't be in here right now." Madam Pomfry said, shooing students out.

After a few minutes, Sirius, Remus, Peter, Jo, Adrian, Lily, and Adam were the only ones left sitting around James' bed. Time passed slowly as they sat silent, hoping for James to wake up. The night went by, and at about eleven Madam Pomfry shooed them off to bed. As they said goodnight to each other, Lily and Adam parted from the rest of the group.

"Are you sure you'll be ok?" Adam asked as they neared the entrance to Lily's dorm.  
"Yea. I'll see you in the morning." Lily tried to smile.  
"Sleep well." Adam replied, giving Lily a kiss before he went back to his dorm.

Lily looked around the head's dorm. She felt so alone in the dorm. Sighing, Lily decided to just go to bed. She quickly fell into a deep sleep.

_Suddenly she was awake, taking a stroll across the grounds near the lake. She felt so alive and free. Suddenly someone called her name. Turning around she was face to face with a stranger, but she felt she knew him somehow. He was quite a handsome stranger. He took her hand as they laughed, walking through the grounds. Though she didn't know who he was, Lily felt like she's known him for a lifetime. They walked through the grounds hand in hand, picking a spot under a shady tree. She sat between the strangers legs and he wrapped his arms around her as they watched the sunset over the lake. When the sun had disappeared beneath the lake, Lily looked up at the guy smiling. He looked down at her, returning the smile and leaned in to kiss her. Lily held his gaze as she tilted her head back slightly to kiss him. They leaned in closer and closer until..._

Knocks were coming from the entrance door. It had been a dream, but it felt so real. Lily groaned as she rolled over to see the sun shining through the window. She figured she must have missed breakfast and Jo or Adrian or Adam was here to wake her up. Slowly getting out of bed, she stuck her hair up in a messy ponytail. When she opened the door she was surprised to see...


	17. Chapter 17

When she opened the door she was surprised to see Sirius standing in the doorway looking half sick.

"Sirius? Are you ok? What's going on?" Lily questioned, opening the door more and motioning for Sirius to come in and sit down.  
"I don't know. Everything is just so... out of control lately. It feels like something bad is going to happen." Sirius said, staring into the empty fireplace.  
"Sirius, what do you mean?"

There was a long pause as Sirius stared blankly into the fireplace. Lily sat down, not sure of what to make of the situation. Finally Sirius spoke again.

"I mean, everything just seems to be going wrong. Like everything that's happened, it's just not normal."  
"Sirius, what are you talking about?" Lily's voice had a little more concern in it now.  
"Things just don't feel right. This whole year hasn't felt right. Something's going on and no one realizes it."

Sirius looked up into Lily's concerned eyes. Lily looked back into his eyes and noticed something different about them.

"Sirius, are you drunk?" Lily asked.  
"Wha?" Sirius slurred.  
"Sirius, you're drunk. Isn't it kinda early?"  
"Never too early to have a little fun love." Sirius grinned.

Lily shook her head.

"Come on." Lily said standing up and leading Sirius out of her dorm room.  
"I don't think you... your boyfriend would like us getting together. But I can keep a secret." Sirius winked.  
"Not gonna happen Sirius." Lily laughed.  
"You're no fun." Sirius began to pout.  
"How drunk are you right now?"  
"Me drunk? Never!" Sirius waved his hand and laughed.

Lily rolled her eyes.

"Well I guess so you won't remember anything in a few hours I can fill you in on some information."  
"Information?" Sirius tilted his head.  
"Hmm... well I think Jo does fancy you." Lily smiled as if she released a heavy load off of her chest.  
"Jo... Jo... why does that name sound so familiar?" Sirius pondered, almost tripping but Lily grabbed his arm before he fell on his face. "James!"  
"What?" Lily asked confused about his sudden shout of James' name.  
"Where's James?" Sirius now sounded panicked.  
"He's in the hospital wing." Lily looked at Sirius with concern now.  
"What? What happened?!" Sirius looked infuriated.

Lily looked at Sirius with concern. Suddenly Sirius stopped walking. Lily stopped walking also.

"Sirius what's...?"

Lily started to say but wasn't able to finish her sentence because before she knew it, Sirius had passed out into her arms.

"Great... just great." Lily shook her head as she laid Sirius on the floor before she dropped him.  
"Need some help?" A voice came down the hallway from around the corner.

Lily turned her head to see Adam.

"Yea." Lily replied smiling.  
"So what did you do to him?" Adam asked casually helping pick Sirius back up.  
"What?" Lily asked, shocked of being accused she let go of Sirius and covered her mouth as Sirius fell on the floor.  
"Oooh..." Sirius moaned and went back into his drunken slumber.  
"I was kidding. He was like this late last night." Adam laughed as he bent down to pick Sirius back up.  
"Sorry. I didn't get much sleep last night."  
"I figured when we missed you at breakfast. So are you ok?"  
"Yea, I decided to work on that potions essay due tomorrow and couldn't figure out what to conclude with." Lily said, not telling Adam really why she couldn't sleep.  
"I totally forgot about that." Adam's jaw dropped.

Lily laughed and Adam grinned at her.

"Good to hear you laugh again." Adam looked at Lily.

Lily smiled as they continued to drag Sirius down the hallway to the Gryffindor common room. Once they got there, they left Sirius passed out on one of the sofas. A first year gave Adam and Lily a questionable look after looking at Sirius, but figured it best to not know.

"Well I have to go work on that essay, so I'll see you at dinner." Adam gave Lily a quick kiss and ran upstairs.

Lily sighed. She looked at Sirius who seemed to be mumbling to himself. Adrian and Jo were most likely working on their essays. Remus was probably in the library and no one knows where Peter goes during the day. Wondering how James was doing, Lily walked down to the hospital wing. She found him still asleep in his bed.

"How's he doing?" Lily whispered to Madam Pomfry as she walked by.  
"Poor dear. He'll survive but it's going to take him time to heal up." Madam Pomfry responded.  
"Has he woken up?"  
"Not yet. But I must go."

Without any hesitation, Madam Pomfry disappeared from Lily's side. Lily walked over to James' bedside and pulled up a chair. Noticing extra parchment by a window, Lily grabbed it, happy she had a quill with her. Looking at James, Lily sighed. She looked down at the parchment and began to write her potions essay. Every now and again she looked up hoping that he would be looking back at her, but each time she looked up he was still sleeping. Lily finished her essay in about twenty minutes, laughing to herself at the thought of everyone taking an entire night to finish. She spent time adding extra information to her essay to make it longer. When nothing else could be added to her essay, Lily stuck her quill down and put the parchment in her pocket. Looking around the room, she tried to find something else to occupy her. James still hadn't awakened and she was starting to get hungry. Figuring that lunch was about halfway through, Lily decided to get something to eat. Taking one last look at James to make sure he hadn't woken up, she walked out the door and made her way to the Great Hall.

By the time she arrived at the Great Hall, there were only a few students left at each table. There were a group of Slytherin 6th years sitting at their table, snickering as Lily walked by. After seven years of being around Slytherins, she learned to just ignore them. A group of boys sat around the Hufflepuff table talking very loudly about quidditch but stopped talking when Lily walked by. At the Hufflepuff table there were a few girls gossiping about something that seemed to be very interesting. Lily figured something must have happened while she was in the hospital wing, but was too hungry to care at the moment. Instead she sat down at the end of the Gryffindor table where only a couple other students were scattered, eating a late lunch. Feeling eyes coming in her direction made Lily finish eating her lunch quickly. Wandering the corridors, Lily made her way to the library. She found Remus easily reading an advanced magic book.

"Hey Remus." Lily sat down across from him.  
"Hey Lily. What's up?" Remus asked looking up from his book.  
"Nothing really. Spent some time in the hospital wing."  
"How's Prongs doing?" Remus asked.  
"He'll live Madam Pomfry said. But he still hasn't woken up yet."  
"Ah. Where's Sirius?"

Lily laughed to herself.

"Sirius, is probably still passed out in the common room. He came and knocked on my door today, and obviously he'd been drinking a lot. I tried to lead him back to the common room but he passed out on the way. Luckily Adam came to help me drag him there." Lily laughed.  
"That's Sirius for you." Remus also laughed. "So where's Adam?"  
"Working on that potions essay."  
"Did you finish?"  
"Yea, did it in the hospital wing. How about you?"  
"Finished a little while ago. I'm gonna have fun getting helping Sirius get his done tonight." Remus shook his head.  
"You know, you could always let him do it on his own."

Remus thought about the idea for a bit as if it had never occurred to him.

"Anyways, did anything happen today?" Lily asked.  
"Why?" Remus raised his eyebrow.  
"Because it feels like everyone keeps staring at me."  
"Well, they are obviously just jealous of you. They stare in envy." Remus smiled.  
"Funny. But seriously, did anything happen?"  
"No idea. I've been in here all day."  
"Hmm... oh well. I'll ask Jo and Adrian later."  
"That works."  
"Right. Well I'm gonna go back to my dorm, I have to get something. So I'll see you later."  
"Ok. Bye Lily."  
"Bye Remus."

Lily waved goodbye and made her way up to the head's dorm where she hoped she could find what she wanted.

Entering the head's dorm, Lily sighed as she looked around the empty room. She slid off her shoes and took the potions essay out of her pocket, putting it with her potions book. Lily didn't know what to do until dinner. Her friends were all working on their essays and she hadn't talked to Severus in forever. Who knows what he could be up to? Maybe she would try to find him at dinner so they could hang out again. Going to her room, Lily looked in her mirror, standing on top of her dresser. She ran her fingers through her hair. Noticing a box on top of the dresser, she grabbed it and walked with it over to her bed. She hadn't looked inside of it in what seemed forever. Inside were earrings she had forgotten about, a couple of bracelets, and some necklaces. Looking at each of the necklaces, she recognized one as one her sister had given her for her birthday before she received her acceptance letter to Hogwarts seven years ago. Lily closed her hand around the necklace, wishing that Petunia would talk to her again. After looking through the rest of her jewelry, she noticed she had only killed about twenty minutes time. Putting the jewelry back in the box, she went to return it to her dresser. Figuring she would just go for a walk, Lily made her way to the door. On the way out of her room, she noticed a chain hanging from her nightstand. Lily slowly made her way to it, wondering if it could be what she thought it was. Picking it up slowly, she let the charm dangle in front of her face. It was a silver heart locket. Flipping it over she noticed the letters J+L inscribed on the outside. Lily could feel her heart do a flip. She hadn't seen the locket in weeks. Opening it up, she smiled as she saw the picture of her and James lying in the snow, laughing. Moving her eyes to the other side, she read the inscription "Always and Forever".

"Well that lasted long..." Lily mumbled to herself.

She shut the locket and sighed, not knowing what to do with it. She was with Adam, whom she deeply admired. But then seeing James lying in the hospital, not knowing when he would be ok again brought feelings back up that she thought she had gotten rid of. Closing her eyes, she put the locket around her neck and positioned it under her shirt so it couldn't be seen. Taking one last look in the mirror to be sure that the chain was the only part that could show, she slipped her shoes back on and walked out of her dorm for a walk around the castle.

Time passed slowly, but finally time came for dinner. Lily walked back inside the castle after sitting by the lake for awhile. She made her way to the Great Hall and sat across from Jo and Adrian.

"Hey Lily!" Jo said, trying to get out of Adrian's conversation on quidditch.  
"Hey!" Lily smiled. "Did you finish your essays?"  
"Ugh... don't remind us." Adrian hit her head on the table.  
"I take it you didn't finish." Lily responded.  
"Well... we're almost done." Jo said.  
"Nice. So hear any good gossip today?" Lily asked casually.  
"Nope, we've been locked up all day working on the essay. Why, did you hear any?" Jo looked at Lily with curiosity.  
"No. I was just... wondering. I've been bored all day." Lily covered.  
"Poor you, not having to spend hours on end on a pointless potions essay."  
"I'm just good like that." Lily smiled and Jo stuck her tongue out at her.

The girls were eventually joined by Peter, Remus, and dragging behind Remus was Sirius clutching his head.

"I feel horrible." Sirius whined.

Everyone at the table decided to ignore Sirius' complaints and instead enjoyed their dinners. Before long, everyone was departing back to their common rooms. Jo and Adrian left early to finish their essays, and Remus who was sick of listening to Sirius complain, took Sirius back to the room. Peter followed behind Remus and Sirius. Lily was left all alone again. Where was Adam? He could still be working on his essay, Lily figured. Not thinking much about what she was doing, Lily stood up and walked out of the Great Hall down to the Hospital Wing. Slowly walking in, she found a chair and dragged it next to James' bedside. He was still completely out of it, but she still sat next to him, not thinking about why she was there. After about ten minutes of thinking, she wished she had brought something to do. But how long would she be there? Who knew when James would wake up? If Madam Pomfry couldn't tell her, then she didn't know how long he would be in that state. It seemed kind of frustrating, wanting to talk to her friend but she didn't know when she would be able to talk to him again. Lily sighed and turned her head when she heard footsteps.

"Time for bed, dear," Madam Pomfry said smiling warmly at Lily and went to grab something.

Time had passed quickly when she was sitting with James. Lily stood up slowly and looked down at James. She wished he would just open his eyes so that she could be sure that he was ok. But all her wishing did nothing, for his eyes remained shut. Leaning over James, she gave him a soft kiss on the forehead.

"Goodnight." She said in almost a whisper.

After putting back her chair, Lily made her way to her dorm for probably another restless night.


	18. Chapter 18

Monday mornings were the worst. Though, who would like to wake up early and go to potions. Class seemed quiet that day though. Sirius was still feeling a bit under the weather, Remus was busy studying the notes old Slughorn had given them, hinting at a test coming up, Peter wasn't there, Adrian and Jo were off in their own little world gossiping about something interesting, and Adam hadn't looked at Lily once all morning.

"Mondays suck." Lily sighed.  
"Yea." Adam looked up, giving half a laugh.  
"Are you ok? You seem really quiet today."  
"Yea, just a bit tired."  
"Me too. I'm already ready for it to be Friday, and it's only Monday morning." Lily laid her head on the table.

Adam laughed and patted her back. Class went by moderately fast, as did the rest of the school day. Lily was surprised she got no homework, but Adam had divination homework to get done.

"I'll see you at dinner." Adam kissed Lily after classes and headed to the boys dormitory.

Lily turned and headed to her dorm to put away her robe. Feeling so alone in the heads dorm, she decided to go visit James. The walk to the hospital wing took her about five minutes. Walking down to the end of the wing, she saw James propped up in bed.

"Did he wake up?" Lily asked, hopeful.  
"Not yet dear," Madam Pomfry responded and went to attend to a student who had been jinxed by and unrecognizable spell.

Lily sighed and sat by James' bedside. He looked so peaceful in his sleep. Realizing she should have brought something to do, she remembered she still had the locket on and began playing with it. Something flew by her ear, knocking a vase near James' bed over and surprising Lily, causing her to jump out of her chair. The vase made a loud crashing noise and Lily cursed under her breath. Walking over to the object, she noticed it was a cursed paper airplane. Lily rolled her eyes and repaired the vase with her wand.

"Thank you dear," Madam Pomfry said, taking the vase from Lily and setting it back on the windowsill.

Lily smiled and went back to her seat when she heard a gasp. Looking up, she noticed James' finger was twitching.

"James?" She asked, hopeful that he would wake up.

Lily stood over him, looking at his bruised face. She sighed, and looked away. When she looked back down at James, he was looking at Lily with squinted eyes.

"Oh my gosh, James!" Lily tried not to shout.

James smiled.

"Hey Lily." He said hoarsely.

Lily couldn't control herself. As she squealed, she bent over and gave James a big hug. Finally Lily let go and stood up.

"How long was I out?" James asked.  
"A couple days." Lily replied.  
"Seriously? What did I miss?"  
"Nothing too interesting. Sirius really misses you though, I think he had a little too much to drink yesterday."  
"Good ol' Sirius."

Lily laughed.

"Yea, so how are you feeling?" Lily sat down next to James on his bed.  
"Like I was run over by one of those huge muggle cars." James closed his eyes and opened them again.  
"Well you did fall from pretty high up. Honestly, we were all surprised the fall didn't kill you."  
"A little fall isn't gonna kill me." James grinned and Lily smiled. "Nice necklace by the way."

Lily looked down to see her necklace was no longer under her shirt out of everyone's view.

"I thought so too."  
"Hey Lily, can I talk to you?" James' face when from light and happy, to serious and a bit gloomy.  
"What's wrong?"  
"Lily, there's something I need to tell you, but you have to promise not to get mad at me."  
"What would I get mad at you about?"  
"Well..."  
"Hey Lily!" Adam interrupted, walking over to James' bed. "Good to see you're awake, mate."  
"Yea." James put on a fake smile, hating Adam for having very bad timing.  
"Dinner is about halfway over Lily." Adam focused all his attention to Lily.  
"Really?" Lily was surprised.  
"Go eat, I'll talk to you later." James said when Lily gave him an apologetic look.  
"Ok. I'll come back tomorrow after classes." Lily smiled at James.

After Lily gave James a hug, Adam wrapped his arm around Lily's waist and led her towards the door. As they were walking Adam turned his head and James swore he saw Adam give him the death-glare. James shook it off as Madam Pomfry came over to give him some potion that tasted absolutely disgusting, but she told him if he wanted to get better sooner then he would have to take it.

"I'm so glad he's awake!" Lily sighed happily as they headed down the corridors towards the Great Hall.  
"Yea..." Adam didn't sound as excited.  
"You ok?" Lily asked.  
"Yea, just thinking."  
"About?"  
"Oh... nothing."

Lily stopped and faced Adam.

"That was not a nothing nothing. That was a nothing something. What's up?" Lily looked him in the eyes.  
"It's nothing, I swear. I'm just a bit tired." Adam said, rubbing his eyes.  
"Tired? You didn't have that much homework, did you?"  
"Not really, just a bit harder than I expected."  
"Oh." Lily took a deep breath and grabbed Adam's hand, pulling him off to the Great Hall.

When they got there Adrian and Jo were nowhere to be seen, but Remus was still sitting at the table so Lily and Adam sat across from him.

"Hey Remus." Lily smiled.  
"Lily. Adam." Remus smiled and nodded. "Why do you look so happy?"  
"James woke up!" Lily nearly shouted.  
"Really? Well then I think I'm gonna go head up there now!" Remus smiled and nodded at them again, except this time giving Adam an uneasy look.

Lily and Adam talked and laughed about random things through the final part of dinner. For only having about twenty minutes to eat and how much they talked, they stuffed themselves full quickly.

"So what are you doing the rest of the night?" Adam asked.  
"Not sure, though I may head to my dorm early to get a good night's sleep." Lily rested her chin on her hand, thinking about how great life would be when James got out of the hospital wing.  
"Oh." Adam sounded disappointed.  
"Sorry, I really do want to hang out with you, but I'm tired. It's been a long day."  
"Ok, I'll walk you to your room then." Adam smiled.

Adam kissed Lily goodnight as he walked away from her room and Lily shut the door, changing into her pajamas and going to bed extremely happy.

The rest of the week seemed to fly by. James still had to stay in the hospital wing, but he was visited by many of his friends and admirers every day. Lily went to visit him a lot, after seeing the little bit of Adam she did see. It seemed strange that she hadn't seen him that much. Every time she did see him, he seemed distant. The thought of him being so distant didn't bother her much, because she was too wrapped up in James being awake and soon being able to come back to the room.

"Lily!" Jo shouted down the hallway running towards Lily.  
"Jo!" Lily gasped as Jo flung her arms around her and hugged her. "What's up?"  
"Nothing really. I haven't seen you in like forever it seems!" Jo finally let go.  
"Yeah, homework's been crazy and with James and all."  
"Yeah..." Jo looked down.  
"What?" Lily's expression went from happy to confused.  
"Nothing."  
"What?" Lily demanded this time.  
"It's nothing, really. Just..."  
"Just what?"  
"Just... you've been spending a lot of time with James lately and... I don't know."  
"What about me spending time with James?"  
"I don't know. Ask Adam." Jo looked at anything except Lily.  
"What's that supposed to mea... never mind. Where's Adrian." Lily sighed, changing the subject.  
"Quidditch thingy. I think they're all in the hospital wing getting ideas for the last match."  
"When is that?"  
"Like I know?" Jo grinned.  
"Right." Lily laughed.

Days seemed to pass quickly and she wasn't sure what day it was anymore.  
Lily lied on the couch in her head's dorm. The peace and quiet was nice and gave her a chance to think about what Jo had said. What was going on with Adam. She really hadn't thought much about not seeing him as much lately and now she was wondering if she should have. Could he be mad that she was spending so much time with James? No, that couldn't be it, Lily decided. Lily sighed when she heard the doorknob twist. She slowly sat up to peep over the couch at who was now entering the room.

"Oh, hey Sirius." Lily smiled, half confused.  
"Hey Lily," Sirius seemed to be too happy.  
"What are you up to?" Lily questioned but let it drop when she looked past him into the hallway.

Not letting another second pass, Lily sprung up off the couch and sprinted into the hallway to wrap her arms around the person standing behind Sirius.

"James!" Lily squealed.  
"Oh." James gasped.  
"Sorry." Lily quickly let James go.

James looked down and grinned at Lily.

"I forgot today was the day you were released." Lily smiled.  
"Well I'm glad to see I'm at the top of your importance list." James tried to pout, but couldn't stop smiling so instead he pulled Lily into a soft hug.  
"It's good to see you out of bed though."  
"Yeah, yeah. James is out of the hospital wing and it's good to see him. These bags are heavy and I want lunch." Sirius groaned.  
"Oh quit complaining, Padfoot." James laughed and took a bag out of Sirius' hand.  
"So you must fill me in on everything I missed." James turned back to Lily and grinned.

Lily and James talked and laughed all the way down to the Great Hall after putting James' bags in his room. Sirius couldn't take any more of the "giggly couple" as he labeled them and went ahead. Lily and James didn't seem to notice his absence. When they entered the Great Hall, many heads turned towards James. Everyone welcomed him back, well everyone except the Slytherin's. They all turned their heads in disgust as he walked by. James sat on the opposite side of the table from Lily. Lily turned her head as if not to notice when random girls would come up to James, put their hands on his shoulder and tell him how happy they were he was better. James noticed Lily's actions and grinned to himself, though he paid more attention to her from then on rather than the girls that were coming up to him.

"What's going on here?" Adam asked, sitting in the open seat next to Lily.  
"Hey!" Lily smiled.  
"Good to see you out of the hospital, mate." Adam looked over at James briefly and brought his attention back to Lily. "I missed you."  
"I missed you too." Lily replied.

Adam leaned over to kiss Lily softly on the lips. She returned the kiss as Adam briefly opened his eyes to look at the expression on James' face. It had not changed much, but if you looked closely you could see the hint of jealousy and maybe even hatred in James' eyes. Adam slowly pulled back.

"I gotta head out of here, get some work done. See you at dinner maybe?" Adam asked.  
"Ok. Bye!" Lily sighed as she watched Adam leave the Great Hall.  
"What's that about?" James asked.  
"What?" Lily acted like she didn't know what James was talking about.  
"You sighed."  
"Yes."  
"Why?"  
"I don't know. I just get the feeling... that he's hiding something from me. It's stupid though because he's probably not."  
"Yeah... So you coming to the last quidditch match?" James grinned as he watched Lily's eyes widen in horror.

After James promised not to get hurt again in quidditch, they discussed what James had missed in classes. There was more than James wanted to hear, but he figured he could make it up easily with the help of Remus. After they finished eating, Lily decided to go to the girls' dorm to find Jo and Adrian while James went to go find the Marauders.


	19. Chapter 19

James figured he could find the Marauders in the Gryffindor common room, so he made his way there after watching Lily depart. Something didn't seem right about Lily and Adam, but he shook it off. Of course something seemed wrong about them to him. He would take any opportunity to prove to Lily that she was with the wrong guy, but he wasn't going to interfere with her relationships. As he walked along the corridors, he heard voices hissing from around the corner.

"But the Dark Lord said…" A sheepish voice called. This voice was far too familiar to James for his liking, causing him to stop in his tracks.  
"I know what he said, what needs to be done, and how it's going to be done. So don't worry about it." Another familiar voice hissed.  
"I hope you're right… when is this going to happen."  
"Easter vacation," James could hear the smile cross across the familiar voice's face.

As soon as the voices stopped talking, James began walking, taking a slightly quicker pace to get to the dormitory when he almost ran into one of the voices.

"Emily." James stopped walking as she stopped in front of him, no hint of friendliness in his tone or on his face.  
"James." A grin took over Emily's face. "How have you been? I feel like we haven't talked in forever." She took a step closer to James.  
"I've been quiet swell…" James' sarcasm was quite obvious, his eyes narrowed.  
"Yeah, well I've missed you." Emily placed a hand on James' arm.  
"Odd, I haven't missed you at all." James shook off her hand, bitterness in his tone.  
"Aww… you're not still mad about that mudblood are you?"  
"Don't call her that." James snarled.  
"Fine," Emily smiled that she had touched a nerve. "We really should get together soon. It was quite fun last time." Emily winked, and quickly walked away before James could say anything.

James shook his head and neared a run as he made his way up to the common room. Like he predicted, the rest of the Marauders were there, spread out doing homework.

"Woah, what happened to you?" Sirius asked, looking at the obvious aggravation on his face.  
"Emily." James spat.  
"Don't worry about her, she's an ugly git," Sirius tried to comfort James but it didn't loosen his expression.  
"Not just her. I heard her and Avery in the hallway. Something is going to happen during Easter break. Avery said something about Voldemort."  
"James, don't worry about them too much. You have a lot to catch up on before you can even begin to think about break. The Order will know and be able to take care of that if there is something planned." Remus looked up from his essay, making his attempt at comforting James.

James plopped himself into an open chair and rested his chin on his hand, staring at the fireplace. What could be happening over the upcoming break? His trance was broken with Remus dropping a sheet of paper and a bunch of books in his lap. James groaned as he looked at the paper on top, telling him exactly what he had to make up for classes. He let his head fall back, trying to figure out how he was going to get all the work done, along with wondering more about Avery and Emily's conversation, and what was with Adam and Lily. James heard Remus force a cough and looked up. Sighing, he opened the first book and began to work on all the stuff he had missed.

With Easter break the topic of everyone's conversation, the conversation James had overheard, and with how much work he had to make up, James barely had time to think of the upcoming quidditch match against Ravenclaw. James had been in the Gryffindor common room when Sirius came up behind him.

"So you all set for the game tomorrow?" Sirius grinned.

James looked up from his last make-up essay for potions. "Yeah," he smiled, relief filling him as he realized he was almost done with homework and he would be back on the field doing the thing he loved. "Have you seen Lily?"

Sirius was caught off guard by James' change of subject, but finally stumbled out a response. "Uh… yeah, I saw her not too long ago out by the lake."

James began to roll up his essay. "I'll see you later." He grinned at a very confused looking Sirius.

Lily was indeed still out by the lake. She was sitting under the tree they had shared their first kiss, something that had seem like years ago. James closed his eyes; a stinging feeling went through his body as he remembered what he had lost.

Taking a deep breath, James slowly walked over to Lily and sat down, noticing she had her arms wrapped around her legs and her chin rested on her knees. "Hey Lily."

Lily was at first startled by James, not realizing he was there at first, but then smiled. "Hey. What are you doing out here?"  
"I was just going for a walk, clearing my head when I saw you sitting over here. How are you?" James asked, trying to hide the hint of concern he felt from the expression on her face.  
"I'm fine… just thinking." Lily sighed, turning her head and replacing her chin on her knees.  
James wasn't quite sure what to make of her expression. "Well if you need to talk, I'll listen."

James thought he saw a smile turn the corner of Lily's mouth, but she tucked her face into her knees too soon for him to be absolutely sure. After a minute of silence, James leaned back against the tree, inches from Lily and closed his eyes. Lily looked up at him, and smiled when she was sure he wasn't looking. She let go of her legs and extended them, mimicking James' pose. She sighed and James opened his eyes, grinning when his eyes met hers.

"So where is Adam?" James asked, trying to sound interested.  
"Who knows? I haven't seen much of him lately. I don't really know about him anymore…" Lily drifted off in her train of thought. "He just seems really different lately, and really distant. I just don't know what's going on with him anymore."  
"What about Adrian and Jo?" James asked, now hiding the hint of hope in his voice.  
"I don't know." Lily shook her head. "It's like there's something going on that they're afraid to tell me. But I guess I'll be able to get it out of them, since they're coming to my house for Easter break."  
"Oh. That's cool." James looked out into the lake, thinking of break, and what Emily had been talking about.  
"What are you doing for break?"  
"Probably nothing, my parents usually go away so I'm at home with just Sirius until Remus and Peter come over the last few days."  
"That doesn't sound like much fun; you should come over to my place too."  
"And Sirius?" James laughed.  
"Bring him too. Heck, Remus and Peter can join in also if they want."  
"Wont your parents mind? And your sister?" James laughed to himself at how Lily's parents would react to all these wizards at her house, especially male ones.  
"I doubt it. My parents are always thrilled to meet my friends. Though…" Lily thought about it. "I should write them to let them know more people will be coming." Lily grinned. "That is, if you want to come."  
"It sounds a whole lot better than my house, so I'm in. If your parents don't mind."  
"If my parents don't mind," Lily laughed, and was joined in by James.

James took in the sound of her laughter. The sound that he loved to hear, that made his day. He couldn't imagine anyone else he would rather be with, and began to be excited for Easter break, forgetting Emily's conversation.

"So are you going to the game tomorrow?" James asked after awhile of them just sitting under the tree, watching the sun slowly creep towards the lake. Time sure passed quickly when he was with Lily.  
"Are you going to get hurt?"  
"I won't get hurt," James rolled his eyes and laughed as Lily play smacked him on the arm. "Is that a yes then?"  
"I guess," Lily huffed and rolled her eyes, mocking James.

James acted hurt, and then leaned over to tickle Lily. He had forgotten how ticklish she was as she laughed and squirmed. Lily's squirming hadn't helped much. She had dropped to her back on the ground, and instinctively pulled James down with her. He was able to catch the ground around her so he hadn't completely fallen on Lily, but he was still on top of her. They both laughed at the clumsiness, but stopped when their eyes met. They stared into each other's eyes, neither unable to break the gaze. Before either had to break the stare willingly, someone ran by the lake, screaming about the game tomorrow. Both turned their attention to the second year Gryffindor, excited about the last Gryffindor quidditch match. After a very long second, James pushed himself off the ground and helped Lily up.

"Well you should probably get dinner before it's over, so you'll be ready for the game tomorrow." Lily finally said.  
"Aren't you going to eat?" James tilted his head to the side.  
"Oh, I'm not that hungry."  
"Eat a little something? You're looking a little pale."  
Lily sighed in defeat, "fine. But it's your fault I look pale."

They both laughed as they made the way back to the castle, to eat whatever was left of dinner as they talked about the upcoming game and break.

The school seemed to be out of control. The game was starting soon, and tomorrow the train would take everyone home for break. At breakfast, Lily sat with Jo, who was being strangely quiet, and Adam. Adrian and James had already left with the team and she had wished them luck, winking at James as he took one last glance at her before walking out of the Great Hall towards the quidditch pitch.

"So what are you doing over break?" Lily broke the silence, looking at Adam.  
"Err… nothing too exciting. Family stuff," Adam finally replied, not looking Lily in the eye. "What about you?"  
"Well, Jo and Adrian are coming over," Lily responded, noticing Jo look up for a brief moment.  
"That's right, I forgot." Adam nodded his head. "Well I have to finish a few things before tomorrow, so I'll meet you at the game." Adam got up, gave Lily a quick peck on the cheek before she could object and disappeared out of the Great Hall.  
"Well?" Lily looked at her too quiet, not so confused friend.  
"What?" Jo tried to sound innocent.  
"You and Adrian have been very quiet lately, like you're hiding something." Lily raised her eyebrow.  
"I don't know what you're talking about." Jo quickly looked away.  
"Well… fine. But just so you know, James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter will be coming to my place too for break."  
"What?" Jo nearly jumped out of her seat.  
"Well, Remus is coming late, and Peter still has to see what his parents have planned."  
"Did you ask your parents?"  
"Last night." Lily held up a letter in her hands. "They were more than thrilled to hear that they would get to meet more of my friends, and so they got this letter back fairly quickly." Jo sighed. "What? Do you have a problem with them being there?"  
"No, it's just… a week with Sirius?"

Both girls began laughing, until they decided they should head down to the quidditch pitch to get good seats. As they walked, Lily saw Severus and smiled at him. She thought about how she hadn't seen him in forever, but maybe would see him over break because he lived close.

Adam was waiting in the stands, saving seats for Lily and Jo. He gave Lily a one-armed hug as Lily set her stuff down on the bench next to Adam, Jo sitting on her other side giving Adam a disapproving look when she was positive neither Adam nor Lily was looking.

"And they're off!" Alex Jordan, the regular announcer for quidditch games shouted into the microphone.

Everyone began cheering right away, the Slytherins' cheering for Ravenclaw and the Hufflepuffs' split between the two competing houses. The match was close at first, but soon Gryffindor pulled ahead in points. Everyone was on their feet, cheering for their teams. The sky was darkening and droplets were falling from the clouds. There was a rumble in the distance, and everyone began to cheer louder.

Seconds seemed like hours as James and the Ravenclaw seeker looked for the snitch. Right as a droplet hit James on the cheek, he noticed something golden zoom past his face. Immediately he took off in the direction of the golden streak he had seen. It didn't take long until the Ravenclaw seeker had noticed James' path and was right behind him.

Everyone held their breath as James extended his right arm towards the little, shiny object. In one swift motion, James dove down a bit and closed his hand. Everyone cheering for the Gryffindor team had erupted in applause as James thrust the snitch into the air, prompting Madam Hooch to blow her whistle to announce the game was over.

Half the school rushed to the field to greet the Gryffindor team with high fives and 'good job!' Adam told Lily that he had some things to do again, so he promised to meet up with her again at dinner. Lily sighed as he ran away again, but was then pulled down to the field by Jo so they could greet their friends.

They ran over to Adrian first, who was grinning from ear to ear as she saw her friends.

"Awesome job!" Lily shouted over all the cheering, noticing James looking over at her.  
"Thanks!" Adrian was bouncing everywhere, the rush of winning taking over her.  
"I'll see you at the party; I'm going to talk over here." Lily became distracted by James and made her way over to him as Jo and Adrian laughed at their dazed friend.  
"Good job!" Lily greeted James.  
"Thanks," James grinned, giving Lily a hug. "So are you going to the party?"  
"Yeah, I promised Jo and Adrian I would see them there."  
"Oh? So what will you be doing until then?" James asked, intrigued.  
"Not sure, maybe a little packing? Or just hanging around," Lily smiled.  
"Mind if I join you?"  
"Don't you have anything planned?"  
"Not until the party," James grinned. Lily could only imagine what he had planned for then. "So what do you say?"  
"Well… I guess you could join me. As long as you shower first," Lily wrinkled her nose at James, pretending he smelled.  
"So it's like that?" James laughed, taking a step towards Lily and giving her a big hug.  
"James! Let go!" Lily laughed, as she tried to struggle out of James' arms.  
"What are you doing to Lily?" Sirius headed over to them, raising his eyebrows.  
"Wouldn't you like to know?" James grinned and Sirius grinned back. Lily hit him on the arm, but not hard enough to hurt him. "Hey!"  
"You deserved it." Lily told James, crossing her arms as he let her go, trying not to smile.  
"Well then, Lily, love, thanks for having us at your house over break. It gets quite boring with just old Prongsiepoo. Jo's going to be there too, right?" Sirius asked.  
"Yeah, she is. And no problem, I would get pretty bored too if I was stuck with just old 'Prongsiepoo' here." Lily laughed as she ruffled her hand through James' hair.  
"You asked for it." James bent down and picked up Lily, carrying her over his shoulder.  
"James!" Lily shrieked. "Put me down!"  
"Not a chance." James laughed. "I'll see you at the party." James grinned at Sirius.  
"See you there." Sirius grinned back, trying not to laugh.

Students cleared the way as they saw James carrying Lily over his shoulder. She shouted at him to put her down, struggling to get down herself, but his grip was too strong. Eventually, she gave up, not caring how many students were watching her being carried through the castle by a boy that wasn't her boyfriend. When they reached their dorm room door, James finally put Lily back down on her feet. She immediately crossed her arms and glared at him. All James could do was laugh as she eventually dropped her arms.

Once in their room, James headed straight for the shower while Lily went to her room to start packing. She knew she wouldn't get any done later on, so it was best to get it done now. It only took about twenty minutes to pack what she needed, and once she locked the hinges on her suitcase, Lily grabbed a magazine and headed to the couch to read. James walked out of the bathroom as she settled herself on the couch, wearing only his towel. Lily shook her head, trying not to laugh as James winked at her as he went by.

Lily was pretty into an article in her magazine, when she felt James sit down on the couch next to her. She looked up at him for a second, then back down at her magazine.

"Is that any good?" James asked, doubting that it could be as interesting as Lily seemed to make it look.  
"Not really," Lily finally admitted.  
"Want to go for a walk?"  
"Sure," Lily closed the magazine and set it aside, taking James' hand as he offered it to help her off the couch.

They walked around, not really noticing where they were going. They walked through the corridors, around the castle's grounds, anywhere there was a path. Neither was very hungry, so they both decided to just eat at the party. Time passed quickly again, a pattern Lily noticed whenever she was with James. Before they knew it, they were heading back to the Gryffindor common room for the party.

The room erupted in cheers as James walked through the portrait door. He grinned, helping Lily through the portrait. Immediately, James began to scan the crowd for his fellow Marauders.

"I have to find Jo and Adrian, so I'll talk to you later." Lily told James.  
"Okay," James replied, making his way over to Sirius.

"Lily!" Jo screamed over the noise.  
"Where have you been?" Adrian yelled also.  
"I was out for a walk. Why? What's going on?" Lily looked at her friends, searching for answers in their eyes.  
"Adam was looking for you at dinner." Jo told Lily.  
Lily immediately hit the palm of her hand to her forehead. "I completely forgot. Where's Adam?"  
"He had to finish packing." Adrian responded this time.

Odd, Lily thought to herself. It seemed like Adam had been packing all day. Surely he wasn't bringing home so much stuff as to where he would be packing all day. Lily was sure she had over packed, and it had only taken her twenty minutes. She figured she would see him tomorrow before leaving for break so she could apologize.

"What does Sirius have over there?" Jo asked, narrowing her eyes to the marauders.  
"Let's go see." Lily replied, glad to have any excuse to go over and talk to James. "Sirius, what is that?"  
"Butterbeer," Sirius grinned, taking a sip. "Want some?"  
"No, and you shouldn't be drinking that either. Remember what happened last time?"  
"What happened last time?" James laughed also taking a sip, curious as to when he had missed Sirius' 'last time'.  
"You shouldn't be drinking that either." Lily turned her attention to the glass in James' hand.  
"Aww… come on. A little bit won't hurt." Sirius pleaded.  
"Right, because riding on a train tomorrow will make your 'sickness' go away." Lily put her hands on her hips. "Plus, I don't want you getting sick at my house. It won't make a good impression on my family."  
"Fine," Sirius pretended to pout as he gave his glass to the nearest seventh year.

Lily turned her attention to James, eyeing his glass. James sighed in defeat and also gave his glass away.

"So Jo, love, talk to me," Sirius made his way over to Jo.  
"Lily, can I talk to you?" Jo grabbed Lily's arm and pulled her away, avoiding Sirius' attempt to flirt.  
"What?" Lily looked at her friend.  
"I… I don't know." Jo looked down.  
"You can tell me."  
"Promise not to laugh?"  
"Promise."  
"I… I think I maybekindalikeSirius."  
"What?" Lily laughed, unable to figure out what Jo had just said.  
"I think I maybe kinda like Sirius." Lily's eyes widened. "You promised."  
"I wasn't going to laugh. I just… wow. When did you change your mind?"  
"Not sure." Jo laughed. "It all of a sudden just kinda happened."  
"Well then, at least you'll have time to talk to him over break." Lily winked at Jo, and Jo opened her mouth to object, but closed it instead, looking somewhat distracted. "What?"  
"Let's go back to the guys." Jo grabbed Lily's hand.  
"What's going on?" Lily asked, but stopped when she had realized what Jo had seen.

James was looking over at Lily, but at the same time, Emily was closing distance between herself and James. Lily stayed put, and Jo stopped trying to get over there. James' attention was then turned towards Emily. Her back was to Jo and Lily, but they could still see James' expression.

He seemed quite content as he talked to her, and even smiled. He responded to something she had said, and nodded his head. Lily squinted her eyes, as if it would help her hear their conversation. But she knew that there would be no way to hear them in a room this noisy without being right next to them.

Lily was able to notice Emily's hand behind her back, twirling her light hair around her fingers. Sirius had turned away from the two, obviously not interested in what they were talking about, and he went off somewhere. Lily continued to watch as James' expression changed, seeming more relaxed now. Whatever Emily was talking about, it couldn't be that bad. Lily exhaled in relief, but caught her breath as she noticed Emily's hand move from behind her back. Emily's hand moved farther up and was set behind James' neck. In one swift motion, Emily used her toes to push herself further off the ground and met her lips to James'. Lily felt Jo's hand tighten around her arm as she tried to pull her away, but Lily wouldn't budge. When Lily looked back at James, Emily was gone and he looked dumbfounded. Lily took this opportunity now to turn away and head for the portrait door. James saw Lily heading that way and quickly made his way toward her.

"Lily!" James shouted, standing in front of her so she would stop.  
"Oh, hi James," Lily pretended like she hadn't seen anything. She did have a boyfriend, and he was able to kiss anyone he liked. So why did this hurt her so much?  
"Lily, it's not what you think. She kissed me."  
"James, you're allowed to kiss whoever you want. You don't have to explain to me."  
"But Lily…"  
"It's fine James," Lily did the best she could to hide the hurt in her voice. "But I'm tired, so I'm going to head back to the dorm."  
"Do you want me to walk you?"  
"No, stay, have fun." Lily smiled encouragingly at James, though the smile didn't reach her eyes. "Really, I'll see you tomorrow."

Lily turned to head through the door, motioning for Jo to stay too as she left the common room, leaving both Jo and James at a loss for words. Lily made her way up to the dorm, arms crossed. She knew this shouldn't bug her, but it did. And for that reason, it bugged her even more. When she reached the door to her dorm, Lily walked in and headed straight to bed. It didn't seem like that long after that she heard the door slam again. She wondered what time it was, and if James had come home early. Lily pushed her thoughts of James away and turned over on her side, hoping to fall asleep quickly.


	20. Chapter 20

There was no doubt that the next morning was even louder than the Gryffindor common room had been the previous night, due to a party from winning the quidditch match. There were still some that hadn't completely finished packing, so the Great Hall wasn't too crowded at breakfast. Lily met up with Jo and Adrian, both of whom seemed concerned for their friend who must have completely forgotten about the previous night.

"Lily, are you positive you're ok?" Jo looked at her friend with sincere concern in her eyes.  
"I promise," Lily played with the food on her plate, not looking up in case her face betrayed her.  
"Ok, well what is the plan for the week?" Adrian exchanged a quick glance with Jo, but decided to change the subject.  
"Not sure. I figured we could just hang out, there's a lake near my house so we could go swimming. We can always find stuff to there." Lily looked up, knowing that her face wouldn't betray her hidden emotions now.  
"What about your sister?" Jo asked nervously.  
"Petunia… well she was more than happy to get out of the house all week, just coming home to rest. That's the only way she promised she wouldn't be… well that she would try not to be rude." Lily winced; thinking about how much her sister hated her, thinking back to the day when she had gotten her acceptance letter to Hogwarts, but not Petunia.  
"So it will be us, James and Sirius, then Remus is coming later?" Jo tried to hide her smile when she said Sirius' name.  
"Yes. Is that ok?" Lily grinned, winking at Jo.  
"Sure, sure," Jo replied, and all three of them laughed. Jo ended up telling Adrian about Sirius during breakfast, after Lily encouraged her for about ten minutes, with Adrian confused on what they were talking about.

They looked at the time and agreed they should probably grab their bags and head down to the front grounds of the castle, to wait for the carriages that would bring them to the train. Lily grabbed her bags, noticing that James wasn't in the dorm, but his bags were already gone.

"Must be down front already," Lily quietly said to herself.

On her way down the corridors, Lily saw James, Sirius, and Remus talking in a tight circle near the windows. Remus cleared her throat as he saw Lily approach, and the other two looked up.

"Lily!" James smiled, but then dropped his head a little, not knowing if Lily would be mad at him.  
"Hey guys! Remus, where are your bags?" Lily noticed that James and Sirius had their bags with them, but Remus had none.  
"My parents are picking me up here. We have to visit a family member and it's easier for them to get me here rather than at the train station." Remus quickly replied.  
"Oh, well I hope you have fun! Are you guys coming? The carriages should be here soon." Lily moved her attention to James and Sirius.  
"Right behind you," Sirius grinned. James elbowed him in the ribs.  
"Er, right," Lily wondered what that was about. "See you soon Remus!" Lily smiled and made her way to the entrance.  
"Sorry we couldn't stay mate. I totally forgot about the full moon until you just reminded me. It might make them suspicious though if we cancelled now." James apologized to Remus.  
"No problem, I'll see you guys in a few days. You better go though, Lily's right, the carriages will be here soon."  
"When isn't Lily right?" Sirius grinned and James elbowed him again.

Sirius and James both said bye to Remus, and made their way to catch up to Lily.

"And she wasn't mad?" Sirius asked in disbelief.  
"No, not in the least bit. I feel horrible though." James ran his hand through his already messy hair.  
"What was it about?"  
"Well she came to congratulate me on the game, and then went into asking me about break. I told her we were going to Lily's. She was trying to convince me not to go, saying 'I don't want to lose you'. I get this feeling like something is going to happen, especially after that conversation I overheard. After that I couldn't not go to Lily's. I told her there was no way I wasn't going, so she thought that kissing me would persuade me. Hah, like that would work."  
"Wouldn't be awesome if we could duel her? We could totally take her out!" Sirius grinned, imagining the duel between him and Emily.  
"Let's just hope it doesn't come to that. Hey guys!" James smiled as they finally approached Lily, Adrian, and Jo trying to stay separate from the crowds.  
"Hey," The girls all smiled at Sirius and James.  
"So what's the plan for the week?" Sirius questioned.  
"Just hanging out, we could head down to the lake and swim at some point." Lily gave the same answer as she gave to Adrian and Jo at breakfast.

They began brainstorming ideas for the upcoming week, Lily shaking her head at most of Sirius' ideas, having to remind him more than once that she lived in a muggle community that would probably freak if they saw any magic. As they continued talking, Lily suddenly froze, hitting the palm of her hand to her forehead.

"Lily?" James asked.  
"Shoot, I forgot to find Adam. I'll be back, I gotta go say bye to him." Lily left her bags with her friends, heading back up to the castle entrance.

Lily wasn't quite sure where to find Adam, but she was positive he wasn't already outside. She asked the few students remaining in the building if they had seen him anywhere. None had seen him, and she huffed, wondering how she was going to find him before the carriages got there. As she walked down one corridor, she heard strange noises. Like something had crashed to the ground. Stopping at the door she was sure she heard the noises coming from, Lily slowly twisted the doorknob and creaked the door open. There was a gasp from inside.

"Lily!"

Lily didn't stop for an explanation. She was already heading as fast as she could walk down the corridor to the grounds. Adam called after her, running to catch up.

"Lily, let me explain!" Adam said in one quick breath, grabbing Lily's arm.  
"Save it for someone who cares Adam." Lily tugged her arm out of Adam's grasp and picked up her pace down the hallway.

She didn't need an explanation from Adam. There was no way to deny that Adam was in that broom closet with some sixth year Hufflepuff, her arms wrapped around his neck and his lips on her neck. Lily didn't turn around to make sure Adam wasn't following her; she didn't want to see his face again. Is this why he had always been so busy? Lily shook her head, she wasn't going to let this ruin her friends break. She would act like nothing had happened. Her plan was ruined though as she made it back to her friends, and their faces all dropped.

"Dangit," Lily huffed under her breath.

Her face had probably given her away, not matter how hard she tried to make it look indifferent.

"Lily, what happened?" Jo's face had gone hard, looking like she was about ready to hex the next person to cross her.  
"Nothing," Lily lied.  
"Bull," Adrian shot back.  
"On the train," Lily sighed.

Adrian and Jo nodded, while Sirius and James looked at Lily bewildered, wondering what had caused her face to be so grave. They all sat silently on the carriage, exchanging glances of wonder. No one dared to stare at Lily too long, afraid to see the hurt in her eyes.

On the train, Sirius led the way to find an empty compartment. Jo and Adrian closely followed him. James stayed back by Lily.

"Are you ok?" James whispered in Lily's ear, the worry in his voice clear.  
"I will be." Lily responded quietly, knowing that at least this was true.

As they settled into the compartment, Lily sat in between James and Adrian, leaving Jo to sit next to Sirius. Lily winked at Jo when Sirius wasn't looking, hoping she would take this as a sign of her doing better and not press any more information about what had happened out of her at the moment.

"Lily, what happened?" Adrian asked.

Lily didn't think about how Adrian wouldn't see her move as doing better and cursed under her breath.

"It's really nothing." Lily insisted.  
"Uh huh, Lily, you're a horrible liar. You left to find Adam just fine and when you came back you were…" Adrian trailed off, something clicking in her mind. Jo sat up too.  
"What?" Sirius asked, wondering what he missed.  
"He didn't," Jo accused, the hatred clear in her voice.

All Lily could do was nod. James and Sirius stared at her, wondering what they were missing while Jo and Adrian exchanged glances of dislike.

"Who? I'll rip her hair out." Jo stretched her fingers into claws.  
"I don't know. Some Hufflepuff, sixth year I think." Lily shook her head. "But it doesn't matter. I don't care. I'm fine, really."  
"Lily, you can't be fine after seeing that."  
"Really, I am. I figured something was going on with him, so it doesn't really surprise me."  
"Can someone please fill us in?" Sirius shook his head, trying to figure out what they were talking about.

Before someone could answer, there was a tap on the door. Lily looked up but looked pleadingly at her friends. James was quickly able to piece the information together and was on his feet in an instant.

"James," Lily began.  
"I got this," James' tone was hard.

Jo filled Sirius in on what was going on in two words and immediately he was on his feet too, right next to James. They opened the door and took a step closer to Adam.

"Lily, can we talk?" Adam pleaded, looking around James and Sirius.  
"I don't think she wants to talk to you." James growled at Adam.

Adam took a step back, and hardened his expression.

"This is none of your business." Adam accused.  
"When you hurt one of my friends, it is my business." James narrowed his eyes.  
"How about this, you walk away now or we hex you so you will never be able to speak again." Sirius threatened.  
"I'm sorry Lily. I'll write you." Adam looked around Sirius and James again and smiled.

Lily didn't look up at Adam, and rolled her eyes when he said he would write. Hopefully he wasn't expecting a reply, she thought to herself. As soon as Adam was gone and the compartment door was shut, Lily looked up.

"Thanks guys," She smiled at them.  
"No problem. He's an idiot." Sirius said.

They carried out talking about other things, like things to do over the week. As it got later, they got tired from just sitting on the train. Adrian fell asleep first, followed by Jo and Sirius. Lily was starting to nod off too.

"Hey James?" Lily said in a tired voice.  
"Yeah?" He responded quietly.  
"Thanks." With that, Lily fell asleep.

James smiled. The rest of his friends were asleep so he figured he might as well try to get some sleep. As he concentrated on the back of his eyelids, he felt something slowly lean into his arm. Opening his eyes, he noticed Lily had slipped sideways and was now leaning on his arm looking very uncomfortable. It was getting colder on the train, and Lily shivered a few times. James scooted closer to Lily and wrapped one arm around her to help keep her warm. She involuntarily maneuvered her head to be comfortable against James' chest. He smiled and closed his eyes, letting sleep take over him.


	21. Chapter 21

**T**"Lily. Lily, can you hear me?" James whispered in Lily's ear, slightly nudging her.  
"Wha? James?" Lily gasped, sitting up in a quick motion, like someone had shocked her arm.  
"Are you ok?" James raised his eyebrow.  
"Yeah…" Lily lied, running her hand over her forehead to remove any evidence.  
"You don't look so good."  
"I'm fine. Just… bad dream." Lily closed her eyes tight, and then opened them to look around the compartment to notice everyone still sound asleep.  
"Wanna talk about it?"  
"No, that's ok. Thanks for waking me up though," Lily smiled at James. "How far away are we?" Lily looked out the widow.  
"We're pretty close. Another twenty minutes I would guess."

Lily nodded her head and looked out the window. She repositioned herself on the seat so she could lean her head against the window and focused on the trees passing by. James ran his fingers through his hair, slightly confused and slouched in his seat, closing his eyes again. Like James had said, twenty minutes had passed when they reached the train station. Everyone was woken up and picked up their luggage, heading off the train. After passing through the brick wall, it wasn't hard at all to find Lily's parents. They were the all too excited looking couple staring at the wall for the past fifteen minutes. Lily reached her mother and was immediately pulled into a hug while her dad patted her shoulder.

"Mom, dad, this is Sirius and James. You already know Jo and Adrian." Lily introduced them.  
"It's very nice to meet you Mr. and Mrs. Evans." James smiled and shook their hands.  
"Please, call me Mary. And this is my husband, Shawn." Lily's mother blushed at how formal James was.  
"Nice to meet you," Sirius grinned and shook Lily's parents hands too.

The rest of the night went by fairly smooth. Once they reached the house, Lily dragged her stuff to her room, followed by Jo and Adrian who would be sharing her room. Lily's father showed James and Sirius the way to the guest bedroom. After dropping their stuff off, everyone hung out in the living room. Lily's house wasn't huge, but it easily fit everyone in the house comfortably. It was getting late and everyone was still gathered in the living room chatting when Petunia came home. She glanced in their direction for a brief second before rolling her eyes and heading to her room, slamming the door to further show her distaste in the company. Lily apologized to her friends but none had even noticed how rude Petunia had been. Though they had slept on the train, they were all tired and went to bed a little after midnight.

The week was half over, and the group hadn't done much. Most the time they hung around down by the lake, swimming and just relaxing. Remus had finally gotten there and Petunia was even more upset that another 'freak' was in her home. Sirius and Jo had gotten closer over the few days that had gone by, flirting to the point where James, Remus, Lily, and Adrian would roll their eyes and leave them alone.

Sirius and Jo weren't the only ones getting closer. James and Lily had been nearly inseparable. Remus and Adrian would laugh together about their friends ditching them, comfortable being alone knowing that they only liked each other as friends. Jo and Sirius had gone into town and Lily wanted to go down to the lake. Remus and Adrian didn't feel like going down there, but James went with Lily.

"Ugh… I can't believe it's already Wednesday. The days are passing so quickly." Lily complained, sitting on the ground near the lake.  
"I know. But when breaks over we only have a couple of weeks left and we're done with school." James looked out at the lake and sat next to Lily.  
"Where have the years gone?" Lily looked down at the grass and sighed.  
"They flew by," James nodded in agreement, leaning back a little with the support of his arms.  
"Who would have thought that all this has happened?"  
"What do you mean?" James asked curiously.  
"Like… me and you," Lily used all her will power not to blush as she looked up into James' eyes. "And of course, you being a Head Prefect." Lily added in a teasing tone, relieved that it helped her to not blush.  
"I know what you mean," James laughed and shook his head. "You still got that necklace?" James noticed Lily twisting something in her hands.  
"Of course," Lily couldn't help but blush this time.

James smiled and laid back in the grass, his hands placed behind his head. Lily looked at him for a brief second and then tilted her head up to look at the passing clouds, which were getting darker due to the sun going down. James closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"Things really have changed." James whispered.

Lily looked at him, taking in his peaceful face. How she wanted to be lying on his chest or playing with his hair in this moment. But she had just been cheated on. Should she be feeling these feelings for someone else already? This wasn't just anyone though, he was someone she cared about, someone she loved and still possibly could. Lily shook away these thoughts; he probably didn't still care for her like she did for him. Lily took a deep breath, mimicking James and slowly let it go. He opened his eyes to look at her and they both laughed.

"I guess we should probably head back, my mom probably has dinner waiting for us." Lily sighed, reluctantly getting up.  
"Mm…. ok, I'm hungry." James sprung up to his feet and Lily laughed.  
"When aren't you?" She teased.

James playfully messed up Lily's hair. She dropped her jaw, trying not to laugh and went to play hit him. James dodged her hand as she came at him. Laughing, he wrapped his arms around her, restraining her arms and began to walk. Lily tried to struggle free but there was no point. He was obviously stronger than she was, and part of her subconscious was going crazy from his touch. When they reached the house, James didn't let his grip go until they entered the living room. James dropped his grip before Lily's parents or Jo and Adrian saw, but not quickly enough for Sirius to miss.

"What have you two been up to?" Sirius winked.  
"Shut up," Lily and James said at the same time.

Sirius chuckled but didn't say anything else. Remus shook his head, pretending not to notice while Jo and Adrian sat confused as to why Sirius was being told to shut up.

"Lily, you got another letter," Lily's mother came through the doorway holding the letter addressed to her in Adam's handwriting.  
"Thanks mom," Lily smiled and took the letter, but rolled her eyes when her mom turned her back. Lily hadn't informed her parents about her last ex-boyfriend that had cheated on her.  
"What's it say?" Sirius' eyes bulged with curiosity.  
"Let's see…" Lily opened the letter and smoothed it out. After taking a moment to read it to herself, she growled.  
"What?" Jo asked, moving closer to Lily.  
"What's he saying now?" Adrian also moved closer to Lily.  
"What an idiot," James mumbled, reading the letter as Lily held it slightly to her side for him to read.  
"Ok, you two want to let the rest of us in on what he said?" Remus finally broke the silence of curiosity.  
"Dear Lily…" Lily cleared her throat as she began to read the letter, "'I know what happened Sunday looked bad, but it's not what you think. Please, respond to my letters so I can explain. If you don't respond by Friday, I'll be coming to visit you, just in case you're not getting my letters. Talk to you soon. I love you! Adam.' I swear if he comes here…" Lily broke off into thought of what she would do to him if he did come.

The room broke off into quiet mumblings of 'what an idiot' and 'he better not come here' while Lily sat down and closed her eyes, rubbing her hands on her temples.

"Why can't he just grasp that I'm done with him?" Lily sighed.  
"Hmm…" James pondered, his eyes suddenly widening. "I have an idea." James grinned and looked at Sirius and Remus who seemed to understand his plan. Sirius nodded in agreement while Remus tried not to grin.  
"What's your idea?" Adrian narrowed her eyes at James.  
"Lily, can I have a piece of parchment, quill, and ink? An envelope may be helpful too." James grinned.  
"Yeah, over there," Lily pointed to the desk in the corner of the room, "but what are you planning?"

Without answering, James went over to the desk, finding what he needed, followed by Sirius. They sat over the parchment for a few minutes as everyone else in the room stared at them in confusion, except Remus. Finally they came back to the group and held up the parchment with fresh ink written on it.

"What?" Lily was trying to understand. Looking at who the letter was addressed to, she finally understood. "Oh!"  
"What's it say?" Adrian repositioned herself onto the floor, sitting up straight.  
Sirius held out his hand for the note and began reading, "_Dear Adam_…" Sirius winked at Lily and she rolled her eyes, trying not to laugh. "_'Thanks for the entertainment you've given us with the letters you have sent Lily. Unfortunately, she doesn't care what you have to say, and would prefer if you didn't come to visit. That would only make things worse for you, seeing as we would have to hex you for intruding on our great break. Don't worry, Lily's in good hands, we're taking good care of her. Have a good rest of break! James and Sirius._' So what do you think?"

Everyone began laughing, even Remus.

"Think he'll get the point?" Sirius asked.  
"I hope so." Lily smiled.  
"If not, we can take care of him." James stretched his arms while Lily tried not to laugh.  
"So can we send this?" Sirius was eager to get the letter out.  
"Owl is through the kitchen." Lily directed Sirius.

Sirius made his way immediately to the kitchen to send the letter. While everyone watched him attach the note to the owl Lily looked at James and mouthed 'Thanks'. He grinned and nodded back. As soon as Sirius returned to the living room, Lily's mother walked through the doorway again to announce that dinner was ready. After dinner, the group lounged around near the fireplace. It was getting late when there was a tap on the door. Everyone looked at Lily as she shrugged her shoulders. Lily's mother answered the door and everyone paused to hear who it was.

"Lily, someone's here to see you." Lily's mother called.  
"Coming," Lily scrunched her eyebrows together trying to figure out who may be here to see her so late when she realized who it may be. "Come with me?" Lily looked pleadingly at James.

James nodded and got up to follow Lily to the door. As she rounded the corner Lily caught her breath taking in the figure at the door while James immediately stiffened, clenching his fists.

"Oh, hi Sev. What are you doing here?" Lily smiled, her eyes not hiding her confusion.  
"Yes, what are you doing here?" James mumbled under his breath, glaring at Snape.  
"I… I just wanted to see how you were, Lily." Snape smiled at Lily, ignoring James' glare.  
"I'm fine. Isn't it a little late though? I mean, that can't be the only reason you stopped by, is it?" Lily raised her eyebrow.  
"Well I uh… just wanted to see you. So are Adrian and Jo here?" Snape tried to look around the door but James stepped in front of him.  
"Yes," Lily turned her confusion to James' intense face.  
"Anyone else?" Snape asked.  
"No," James responded curtly.  
"I see. Well I guess I'll see you… around Lily." Snape grinned at James the same time as he took Lily's hand and kissed it.

Lily's cheeks turned bright red at the same time as James took in a deep breath of air and clenched his fists. Snape grinned as he quickly left before James could catch him.

"James?" Lily finally snapped out of her confusion, looking at James' red face and the veins sticking out of his hands from clenching his fists.  
"Ye… yeah. I'm fine," James took another deep breath and released his fists.  
"What's going on?"  
"What do you mean?  
"You know exactly what I mean." Lily tightened her eyes as she looked at James. "You told Sev that no one else was here. Why did you lie?"  
"I don't know. It's none of his business who's here and who isn't though." James blinked twice, hoping Lily would buy that.  
"Well… fine." Lily sighed, knowing she wouldn't get whatever James was hiding out of him.

James closely followed Lily as they walked back into the living room. Everyone was quiet, eyes studying the expressions on Lily and James' face. Lily went back to her original seat, while James sat across the room from her so she couldn't question him anymore.

"Who was it?" Jo was nearly jumping out of her seat from anticipation.  
"Severus," Lily responded, looking at James then turning her attention to Jo.  
"What did he want?" Adrian scrunched her eyebrows.  
"To see how I was."  
"That's all? And this late?" Jo raised an eyebrow.  
"Well he wanted to know who all was here," Lily added, looking at James again, who was making an effort not to look at Lily.  
"Why?" Jo and Adrian asked, while Sirius and Remus shot their attention to James.

Lily noticed the exchange of looks between Sirius, Remus, and James and knew immediately something was going on.

"No idea," Lily finally responded.

Jo and Adrian went into gossiping about the many reasons behind why Snape had stopped by, one being he heard about the breakup and wanted to know if Adam was there. Lily pretended to be listening while she kept an eye on James, who was quietly talking quickly about something she assumed had been about Snape's visit. Time passed quickly again, Jo falling asleep on the couch as the group remained in the living room. As Lily and Adrian agreed they should go to bed, Sirius jumped off his seat and scooped Jo up in his arms, carrying her off to the girls' room without waking her. Adrian followed while Lily stayed behind. Lily looked at James while Remus stood up.

"Well uh… I'm gonna get to bed too. Good night." Remus left the room as soon as he could, not wanting to be in the middle of Lily and James.  
"Yeah, I think I'm gonna get some sleep too." James scratched his head as he noticed Lily cross her arms.  
"James, what's going on?" Lily sounded confused and stressed.  
"It's nothing you need to worry yourself about, Lily." James softened his voice as he heard the concern in her voice.  
"Why didn't you tell Severus that Remus and Sirius are here?"  
"It was none of his business?"  
"James, what's going on?"  
"It's nothing Lily."  
"Nothing? Then what were you, Remus, and Sirius talking about when you were whispering in the corner?"  
"Lily…"  
"You know, I could inform Jo and Adrian that you know something. I'm sure Jo could get it out of Sirius." Lily tightened her arms and glared at James.  
"Ok, ok, Lily, listen to me." James walked towards Lily placing his hands on her shoulders. Immediately she loosened her arms and James unfolded her arms the rest of the way. "I'm not sure, but Sirius, Remus, and I believe something big may be happening this weekend."  
"What's happening?" Lily's eyes widened.  
"Well we overheard…"  
"Lily? You coming to bed?" Adrian walked back into the living room, and stopped when she saw how close Lily and James were. "Sorry, I'm just going to…" Adrian quickly turned to walk back to the bedroom.  
"Don't worry; I'm coming to bed right now." Lily quickly said, looking at James. "Tell me tomorrow?" She whispered.  
"Ok," James said after debating for a moment.  
"Good night." Lily said.  
"Good night." James responded, giving Lily a quick hug before they headed to their bedrooms.

* * *

**Thanks for reading this far! I only have one more chapter that was already written before I can use any input you all have. Though the story is close to the end, I would love to read what you guys would like to see happen, so let me know what you think! =]**


	22. Chapter 22

Thursday morning came all too soon. The group discussed what they would do the remaining two days before they had to head back to Hogwarts on Saturday. That morning was a quiet one. The guys knew something was going on while the girls were confused as to the guy's behaviors. After lunch they all decided to split up, Adrian and Remus wanted to study for final exams coming up, Sirius and Jo went into two to do some muggle shopping, and Lily and James decided to take a walk down by the lake.

"So…" Lily sighed.  
"So," James repeated, looking down at Lily.  
"Are you going to tell me?" Lily raised her eyebrow.  
"It's just… I don't want you to worry." James stopped walking and Lily did the same.  
"James, you can tell me."

James looked into Lily's eyes, debating with himself whether he should inform her. Seeing as something could be happening soon, he decided he might as well.

"Ok, before break began I overheard a conversation…" James sat down on the grass and began, telling Lily what he had overheard from Emily and Avery.

"So when do you think it will happen?" Lily questioned eyes wide.  
"We're not sure when, but I'm pretty sure something will happen before we go back to school." James leaned back, using his left arm to support him up.  
"We have to let Adrian and Jo know, so they're ready for anything. And my family…" Lily began, looking off into the distance.  
"Sirius and Remus are informing them and we wouldn't let anything happen to your family. Remus is working on a way to keep them safe if anyone does come here."  
"Wow…" Lily shook her head, leaning all the way back on the ground.  
"What are you thinking?" James looked at her as she closed her eyes.  
"About how in just a few weeks we're going to be done with school and this kind of stuff will be more a reality. In school, you really don't think about having to deal with this stuff. It's just…. strange."  
"I know what you mean." James shook his head, leaning back all the way to the ground to match Lily's position.

James and Lily laid in the grass talking about anything besides what could be coming very soon. James opened his arm so Lily could rest her head on it. About an hour passed of them lying and talking before they decided to get something to eat.

Lily and James decided to get subs for a very late lunch at a small family owned Italian sub-station down the road from her home. They talked and laughed, not a care in the world at the moment.

"So are you ready to head back to school?" James rested his arm on the table after finishing his sandwich.  
"Yes and no." Lily responded.  
"Why so?"  
"Well yes because I'm ready to finish classes. And no because…" Lily hesitated.  
"Because?" James raised an eyebrow.  
" Because well… I really have no intention of seeing Adam again." Lily looked down and placed her hands in her lap.  
"You know, if you don't want to see him again, I could always help make that happen." James grinned and Lily couldn't help but smile.  
"Hmm… I think I like that idea. But you won't hurt him, right?"  
"Only if you don't want me to," both James and Lily laughed.  
"So will I ever see you when we're out of Hogwarts?" Lily's face turned serious.  
"I'll be there whenever you want to see me." James smiled warmly.  
"Good." Lily smiled back. "Well I guess we should start heading back to the house. I'm sure everyone else is back by now."

James and Lily stood up and slowly made their way back to Lily's house. They walked very close the entire walk, both feeling the electricity between them whenever their hands brushed. When they walked into the living room, they were both surprised to see Jo sitting on Sirius' lap.

"What's going on here?" Lily spoke first.  
"They gave up trying to stay away from each other and now were stuck with mushy lovebirds." Adrian made a joking disgusted face.  
"Hey!" Jo tried to look offended but ended up smiling.  
"Geeze Padfoot, we leave you alone for a few hours and this is what happens?" James joked.  
"You're just jealous that I got a hottie like this." Sirius winked at James and James rolled his eyes and shook his head.  
"Seriously though, we have to talk about the rest of this weekend. Do you think there will be any attacks?" Remus added in.

James and Lily sat down next to each other on the couch after Lily made sure her family wasn't anywhere around where they could hear.

"I don't know. There haven't been any attacks yet and we are leaving back for school soon." Adrian said.  
"Yes, but that doesn't mean they won't attack." Remus replied.  
"Wait a minute; I'm confused why they would attack here. I mean, what could they possible want?" Jo asked, and immediately all eyes were on James and Lily.  
"What?" Lily looked confused.  
"They, the death eaters are after you and me supposedly." James sighed, for he had left this out of the conversation earlier when he explained to Lily of the possible attack, not wanting to scare her.  
"Why?"  
"Voldemort sees us as having the potential of being very powerful and doesn't want to risk us not being on his side. Of course he knew we wouldn't join him, which is why we may have death eaters after us now."  
"Does Dumbledore know?" Lily's eyes were wide.  
"We informed him of this before break started. He told us that the Order would be ready to send in people should we get attacked." Remus replied this time.  
"So what do we do?" Jo asked.  
"We wait…" Sirius said in a dark tone. "Until then, we should have some fun!" Sirius winked at Jo, and she playfully hit his arm.  
"So hang on a second, why didn't Dumbledore have the Order here with us all break if there's a possible attack?" Lily narrowed her eyebrows in confusion.  
"That's why we believe Sniv… Snape was here. To see how many other wizards were here with you and to make sure there were no members of the Order here. If he had seen any of the Order here, Sni-ape would have let them know. We believe he came to find out how many Death Eaters they would need to be here so they could defeat us." James spat the last sentence out.  
"They were expecting it to be easy, knowing that it would just be you, Adrian and Jo." Remus added, but held up a hand when he saw Adrian about to protest. "They were going on the element of surprise. If they could catch you off guard, it would be easy to take Lily and they knew James would come after her. I'm sure now that they know James is here too, they will be planning more carefully, expecting Sirius and I to be close by."  
"You would come to save me?" Lily whispered in James' ear.  
"In a heartbeat," James took Lily's hand giving it a slight squeeze and smiled warmly at her.  
"But seriously, what do we need to do now?" Jo asked again  
"There really is nothing we can do, except be ready for anything that happens." Remus replied.  
"In that case, when's dinner? I'm starving." Adrian folded her hands in her lap and smiled.

Everyone looked at her with amazed looks, finally laughing, grateful that she had broken the tension in the room.

"Ugh… I just ate, I'm not hungry." Lily leaned back in her seat and placed a hand on her stomach.  
"Me too," James copied Lily's motions and laughed.  
"Well I'm hungry," Sirius stood up, followed by Jo, Adrian, and Remus. "What's for dinner?"  
"Whatever you can find. I'm not sure what my family had so there may be leftovers in the fridge." Lily said.  
"So where is the rest of your family?" James asked when everyone cleared the room to go eat.  
"Probably upstairs somewhere, they've always been good about keeping out of the way when I have friends over. I'm sure Petunia is fuming in her room, with nowhere to go tonight." Lily sighed.  
"Still not getting along?"  
"I don't know. I try to be as nice as I can to her and be the best sister I can be, but she still hates me." Lily looked down at her hands and folded them across her lap.  
James took one of her hands in both of his. "No one could ever hate you Lily. You are seriously the best, honest, most sincere person I have met."

With nothing to say, Lily smiled and blushed. James lifted her hand up and kissed it softly.

"Would you like to sit outside where we can be alone?" James whispered in Lily's ear.  
"Ok." Lily breathed, not able to stop smiling. "But what about…?" Lily's smile dropped and her face turned serious.  
"Don't worry," James brushed one of Lily's bangs out of her face and put it behind her ear. "The others are in here, and I promise, I will never let anything hurt you."  
"Ok." Lily smiled.

James stood up and helped Lily up by the hand he was holding, not letting it go. He led her outside and shut the door. They sat at the top of the steps on the front porch. It was a bit chilly out so James wrapped his arm around Lily's shoulders. Sitting in silence, they looked up at the stars. After a few minutes James brought his gaze back down to Lily's face. Lily finally noticed James' eyes on her and she lowered her gaze to his face.

"This is nice." She smiled.  
"Yeah," James returned the smile.

Lily looked back up at the stars, clouds slowly moving over them. James kept his eyes on Lily's face, memorizing the perfection of it.

"Do you think it would have turned out like this if this year didn't happen?" Lily asked after another few moments of silence.  
"Huh?" James turned his head to the side, trying to understand what Lily meant.  
"I mean, do you think we would be sitting here right now if everything that's happened in the past few months didn't happen?" Lily clarified, leaving out the details of the more painful details, such as Emily.  
James understood what she meant. "I don't know. But I can tell you that I am extremely glad to be here right now… with you." He noticed she was still wearing the locket he had given her what seemed like so long ago. He smiled and Lily returned the smile.

They looked into each other's eyes for a long moment and slowly began moving closer to each other. Just as James' lips were about to meet Lily's, James' eyes widened.

"James?" Lily looked at him confused. From the corner of her eye she saw what James had seen. "James!" Lily screamed.

Before either of them could stand up, they heard a voice shout "crucio!" and James was on his back trembling with pain.

"James!" Lily shouted.

The others inside heard Lily shout this time and immediately came rushing to the door, wands ready in their hands. A jet of red light came from Remus' wand as he stupefied the death eater that was cursing James. James' body quit trembling and went still.

"James? James?" Lily took his face in her hands.  
"I… I'm fine." James gasped, slowly opening his eyes and sitting up. "Wands?" James asked in a panicked voice.  
"Right here," Sirius tossed James and Lily's wands to them, as they had rolled away from them when James was hit with an unforgivable curse.  
"Where are they?" Adrian whispered.

Everyone looked around and listened as hard as they could. The only sound heard was the wind ruffling the leaves on the trees.

"Get rid of the others," a voice hissed in the darkness.

Lily grabbed James' hand and gave it a squeeze. James returned the squeeze and gave Lily a reassuring look. Everyone braced themselves as red jolts of light came flying out of the darkness at them. Jo cast a shielding charm around them, deflecting all the spells being cast.

"James my family!" Lily frantically whispered to James.

As Lily spoke, figures rushed to their sides.

"Don't worry, we'll take care of them," a woman with short brown hair said. "We're from the Order."

Knowing the Order had arrived had sent a wave of relief through the teen's bodies. Not enough to keep them calm though. As more and more death eaters became visible out of the forest, it was clear that they were just about even with the amount of members of the Order plus the student's group of friends there.

Lights were flying everywhere. The Order members were each fighting a death eater. Adrian and Remus fought a death eater together and so were Sirius and Jo. Lily and James each had their own death eater to fight, but kept close to each other.

It was a good thing the neighborhood was dead, Lily thought as she dodged yet another curse flying at her. What a silly thing to be worrying about at a moment like this though, while her friends and her life were at risk. And James', oh if anything happened to James before she had a chance to tell him how she really felt, she didn't know what she would do.

From the corner of her eye, Lily noticed a figure stepping out from behind the trees. A late arriver with their attention focused on James.

"What is taking so long? This should have been over with." The voice called, sounding annoyed.

Recognizing the voice, the Hogwarts students let their eyes drift to the figure for a brief second before turning back to their opponents.

"Emily…" Sirius cursed the name under his breath.  
"I'll do it myself," Emily narrowed her eyes and focused her eyes on James as she raised her wand. "Cruc…"  
"James!" Lily broke free of her death eater to push James out of the way.

Immediately Lily fell to the ground. Not only had she been hit with Emily's unforgivable curse, she had also been hit with the curse James' death eater had cast at the same time, sectumsempra. Lily hit the ground hard. Emily's curse had her withering in pain, and James' death eater had sliced her side and legs. Lily wrapped her arms tightly over her stomach as she moaned in pain on the ground.

"Lily!" James' fury was clear in his voice. It didn't take him long after seeing Lily to stun his opponent, Lily's opponent, and Emily.

"James, get her out of here!" A member of the Order shouted to him.

James nodded and scooped Lily off the ground.

"Get her to St. Mungos, I've never seen a spell that slashes like that and the wounds could be deep." Another member of the Order shouted to James.

Nodding, James apparated away from the battle grounds to the hospital. The last thing he heard was the cry of him and Lily getting away.

* * *

**I have the next part written, but am hoping for a few more reviews before I put it up here. So, the first five people to review will get a sneak peak of the next chapter! **


	23. Chapter 23

The room was silent, just like it had been for the past two days. The only sounds in the room were the slow breathing and heartbeats of two people in the room, one stronger than the other. A door opening and soft voice filled the room.

"How's she doing?"

"Still the same."

"You've been here since… a long time. You should go rest."

"I'm fine." James grunted.

"James, it's not your fault."

"It is. I should have seen it coming. I shouldn't have let her push me out of the way."

"There's no way you could have known what curse that death eater was going to throw. And the rest of us should have seen Emily sooner," Sirius shook his head.

James sat forward in the chair he was sitting in, placing his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands. Sirius understood that he wasn't ready to talk anymore, so patting his best mate on the back, he quietly left the room.

It had been a good hour since Sirius left the room, and James had to get up and stretch. He had been there for the past two days, but there was no way he would be leaving now. Standing up, James ran his hand through his hair when he heard a gasp. His eyes darted straight towards Lily's face, whose eyes were beginning to blink.

"Lily?" James quickly ran to her bed, taking her hand.

"James?" Lily's voice was panicked. "James they… you…"

"Shh… it's ok Lily. It's ok."

"Where am I?"

"Lily… you're in St. Mungos." James took a deep breath. "You shouldn't have done that. You shouldn't have pushed me out of the way."

"But Emily was going to curse you and I… I couldn't let her do that." Lily was still panicked.

"Shh…"

"Are you ok?" Lily finally asked after a few deep breaths, looking directly into James' eyes.

"Yes," James began, lifting Lily's hand and kissing it. "Thank you for saving me. Though the next time you do that, I wish you wouldn't put yourself in danger. I'm not worth it."

"Yes you are," Lily immediately defended, and then looked down blushing.

"I love you," James said confidently, lifting Lily's chin to look into her eyes.

"I love you too," Lily bit her lip and smiled.

James leaned in and gave her a soft kiss on the lips.

"You don't know how long I've wanted to do that." James grinned.

"You don't know how long I've wanted you to do that." Lily grinned back, lifting her arms to wrap around James' neck, but immediately dropped her arms as she winced in pain.

"Lily? What hurts?" James' eyes were panicked.

"My side," Lily gasped, "but it's fine." Lily smiled, trying to lift her arms again, but couldn't. Her smile turned into frustration.

"Let me help you," James laughed and leaned in, kissing Lily more passionately on the lips this time.

It wasn't long before the door creaked open again.

"We heard… Lily!" Adrian shouted as she saw Lily scowling at her for interrupting her kiss with James.

"Lily?" Jo asked excitedly, walking behind Adrian and immediately smiling at her friend who was finally awake.

Remus and Sirius followed into the room and the atmosphere was finally one of cheerful, relaxation. James didn't let go of Lily's hand once, and all of their friends noticed but didn't comment. The time came for Adrian, Jo, Remus, and Sirius to leave for classes to begin the next morning. James had gotten special permission from Dumbledore to stay with Lily in the hospital until Wednesday, when she would be allowed to pack up and head back to Hogwarts.

Lily was finally able to move around without much pain, though the nurses still kept her in bed because they had never seen a curse that inflicted such wounds as the ones she had received. This didn't upset Lily too much, as there was plenty of room for James so sit in the bed with her. Most of the time they sat, James' arm was around Lily and Lily's head was rested on James' shoulder.

Tuesday night rolled around and Lily was allowed to get out of bed and stretch. After reaching her arms high above her head to get the fullest stretch, Lily wrapped her arms around James and gave him a big hug. James wrapped his arms tightly around her, as if he would never let her go.

"So what is the plan?" Lily asked, looking at James.

"Well, it is late, and I'm sure your family is in bed by now. But we should get your things from your house tonight so we don't have to worry about anything tomorrow."

"What would there be to worry about tomorrow?"

"Well, some of the Order stayed at your house to protect your family from anything… that might happen."

"And they're leaving tomorrow?!" Lily's eyes grew wide.

"No. I mean, yes, most are leaving tomorrow. They are leaving behind one member to be stationed there for awhile until we can be sure things have settled down."

"We?"

James hesitated. "Yes, 'we'. The Order asked me if I wanted to join when… the night of the fight, and I agreed. They also asked me to extend the invitation to you if you wanted to join."

"Of course I want to join," Lily agreed immediately.

"I figured you would," James smiled and kissed Lily on the cheek.

"So… why?"

"Huh?" James tilted his head."

"Why the fight?" Lily asked, figuring it was better not to ask, 'so why were we almost killed Thursday night?'

Again James hesitated. "Maybe it would be better if Dumbledore explained that to you."

"James?" Lily narrowed her eyebrows, trying to understand his change in expression.

"It's just… the death eaters were there… for us."

"For us?" Lily's eyes widened.

James nodded, "Dumbledore believes it is because Voldemort wants to add us to his collection of death eaters." James spat the ending of the sentence.

"But I would never… you would never…"

"I know, and Dumbledore knows, and so does the Order. Voldemort sees us as powerful, and that is why the death eaters came Thursday. I still believe Sniv-ape was there to see how many wizards were at your house, but either way they were not ready to have so many talented wizards to take on, plus the Order."

"So what about Adrian? Jo? Sirius and Remus? Are they all in the Order now too?"

"Yes," James nodded.

"Wow," Lily sighed, sitting back down on her bed.

"Wow is right," James agreed, sitting next to her.

"Well at least one good thing came out of this," Lily bit her lip and looked at James' confused face. Leaning in Lily kissed James. Pulling away both had grins from ear to ear. "Now I get to do that."

"Hmm… I like that. But next time, let's not wait until a near death experience to figure these things out." James kissed Lily again.

Walking out of St. Mungos hand in hand with James, Lily looked around and wondered how they were getting to her house.

"Ready?" James asked, grinning, obviously noticing Lily's confusion.

"How are we?"

"Hold on," James smiled.

Before Lily could respond, James had apparated both of them to the front steps of Lily's home.

"James! When did you learn to apparate?"

"Oh just one of the things I learned through the years." James laughed.

Lily shook her head. "What are my parents going to think?"

"Don't worry, the Order took care of their uh… memory of that night. To them, nothing out of the ordinary happened. They also think they saw you off to the train, which is why we had to wait until so late to get your stuff."

"Ok, well my stuff was already packed," Lily mumbled.

"Should have known," James laughed.

"Well then where are we going to spend the night? I don't want to go back to St. Mungos."

"Oh no, don't worry. We're going to apparate to my house tonight, then in the morning we'll fly to Hogwarts." James winked at Lily, knowing how much she disliked flying. "Do you have a better plan?"

"Well… no, but how will our bags get to Hogwarts?"

"My parents will take care of that."

"I… but… fine, I'll go get my bags." Lily groaned, quietly unlocking the door with her wand and tiptoeing to her room. She was back in less than one minute. "Ok, let's go." Lily grumbled.

"Oh it'll be fine Lily. We're not leaving until morning so try not to stress yourself about it."

"I'll try not to."

"Don't you trust me," James looked into Lily's eyes.

"Of course I do! It's just flying…"

"It'll be fine, I promise." With that James quickly kissed Lily and then apparated them and her bags to his home.


	24. Chapter 24

The neighborhood was dead silent. Had she not been holding James' hand, Lily may have panicked about the night being a little too quiet. She had little time to worry though as she took in the Potter's house. It was beautiful, illuminated by the glow of the moon.

"Wow," Lily gasped.

"Eh… it's alright," James shrugged.

"Just alright? Your house is huge!" Lily threw her arms up in the air to add a dramatic effect about how big his house was.

James laughed, "Come on, let's get inside. It's cold out here and you look like you need sleep."

"I don't know why, I mean all I've been doing is sleeping the past few days."

"Resting, and I do believe I kept you up a bit more than I should have."

"I didn't mind," Lily grinned and bit her lip.

"Of course," James shook his head then picked up Lily's bags and led her into the house.

Lily gasped again. It was even more beautiful on the inside. Not decorated in an I-have-more-money-than-you-so-I'm-going-to-show-it-off-by-decorating way, but it was decorated in a very tasteful yet subtle way. James quietly led Lily to one of the bedrooms. Inside the walls were a crème color, with a unique design of circles and feathers that later Lily realized to be snitches. In the corner of the room was a king-sized bed with a red and gold comforter.

"So… this is where you'll be sleeping," James said, feeling unsure of what to say.

"It's nice," Lily smiled, also unsure of what to say.

"Ok, well you should really rest up. We have a bit of a flight ahead of us tomorrow," James grinned.

"Ugh… don't remind me," Lily frowned.

"It'll be ok. I won't let anything happen to you."

"Right, you say that now. But when my stomach doesn't cooperate, don't say I didn't warn you."

James raised his eyebrow, "you'll be fine, you'll be holding onto me." He winked and Lily rolled her eyes but couldn't suppress her smile.

"So are your parents sleeping?"

"Yeah, they have to leave before us tomorrow, which is why they are taking our bags for us."

"Why can't they take us with them?"

"Well, they figured you would want to sleep in a bit, as they will be up within the next hour to take off."

"Oh," Lily frowned, as she really did want to sleep and get more rest before heading back to Hogwarts. It was sure to be an eventful return.

"Well, I should let you get changed and get to bed. My mum left a pair of her pajamas on the end of the bed for you to change into. We can leave whenever tomorrow, so just sleep in."

"Ok…" Lily looked around the room unsure, and then looked back at James. "Where are you sleeping?"

"I'll be just down the hall in the living room."

"Why aren't you sleeping in your room?" Lily looked confused, but understanding took over as she realized that she was in James' room. "Oh, I don't want to take your room. You sleep here and I can sleep in the living room."

"Don't be ridiculous Lily, there's no way I would allow you to have to sleep on the couch, and no way would my parents either. They would probably go all crazy on me if I allowed that," James grinned.

"But I don't want you to have to sleep on the couch," Lily yawned.

"Lily, you're tired. Get to bed, I'll be fine."

Looking away, Lily whispered "I don't want to be alone," and bit her lip, looking back at James.

Understanding crossed his face, "Lily, I would never let anything happen."

"I know, but I would feel better if I were closer to you," she looked down, remembering how safe she felt the past few days in the hospital with James there with her. "The bed is definitely big enough for both of us."

"The bed is big enough for us, plus Sirius, Remus, and Peter," James laughed.

"I think we should leave them out tonight," Lily grinned.

"If you're sure you don't mind."

"I'm positive," Lily smiled.

Giving Lily time to change into the pajamas, and changing himself, James walked back into the room. Unlike first walking into the room, there was no uneasiness as they got into bed. Scooting towards the middle, James wrapped his arm behind Lily's neck and she rested her head on his shoulder.

Exhausted from the nights in the hospital, they both fell asleep very quickly. When she woke up, James was softly stroking her hair. Tilting her head up she smiled at him and James bent his head down to kiss her.

"I hope your parents didn't check in here," Lily got a worry wrinkle in her forehead.

"Don't worry, they trust us. Well more they trust you to keep me in line. And no, they didn't check in here," James reassured Lily.

"Ok. So what time are we leaving?"

"Whenever you are ready. Would you like breakfast first though?"

"Err… I'm not so sure that's a good idea."

"Lily, you have to eat something before we go. It's a good hour flight if we're lucky and I don't want you to get dizzy from not eating."

"Fine, I'll just have something small," Lily gave in.

"How about waffles and eggs?"

"You can cook?" Lily looked astounded.

"I guess you'll have to come and see," James grinned.

Curious, Lily followed James to the kitchen. He did seem to know his way around the kitchen pretty well, in about a minute had the pans he needed, eggs, and waffle batter out and ready. Lily sat at the table, watching James as he moved through the kitchen. He really did astound her all the time. About ten minutes later James had two plates with waffles and eggs on them, grinning as he set the plate in front of Lily.

"It does look and smell good," she grinned.

"Try it," James smiled, handing her a fork and sat down in front of her plate.

Taking a bite, James watched anxiously as Lily chewed. She looked at him and raised her eyebrow.

"Well?"

"You really do continue to astound all the time," Lily smiled and James leaned over the table to kiss her.

"I'm glad you like it."

"So what time are we leaving?"

"I figured we could go after you finished eating and got dressed. My mum took your clothes from the hospital and left you a clean outfit from your bag."

"Ok, that was nice of her," Lily smiled; grateful she wouldn't have to wear the clothes she last wore into the hospital back to school.

After finishing breakfast, Lily found the clothes James' mother had left her out and changed. Looking in the mirror, she was very pleased that Mrs. Potter had pulled out her favorite pair of jeans, a white tank with beads at the neckline, and her favorite brown jacket. While her outfit was ok, her hair was another story. Running her fingers through her hair, she managed to get most the snarls out, and surprisingly her red hair laid nicely around her shoulders with little waves in it. Smiling, she remembered they were going to be on a broom. That knocked Lily's smile right off. Sighing, she took the extra hair tie that was always on her wrist off and pulled her hair back into a ponytail. Leaving the pajamas where James told her she could, she walked out of the bathroom and into the living room to see James lounging on the couch ready to go and waiting for her.

"Ready?" James asked, getting up to meet Lily.

"As ready as I'll ever be," Lily groaned.

"Trust me," James smiled and kissed Lily passionately.

"Ok," Lily gasped for breath, smiling up at James.

"Let's go," James grabbed Lily's hand and they made their way out of the house to get his broom and head back to Hogwarts.


	25. Chapter 25

Sure, Lily had been terrified the entire flight, but it wasn't as horrible as she thought it would be. James had gotten them there in an hour and she was pleased with herself that her stomach held the entire way. James did have to help untangle her arms from around his waist and get off the broom. Wrapping his arm around her waist, James led Lily up to the castle.

"Lily!" Adrian and Jo shouted, pushing James out of the way to hug her.

"Hey," Lily gasped, laughing.

"Oh my gosh, we missed you so much!" Adrian managed to say between squeals of excitement.

"We did! And oh how I want to talk, but the Headmaster wanted us to let you know that he would like to speak with you when you got back," Jo frowned, not wanting to leave Lily.

"We were just on our way over there," James grinned, reclaiming Lily.

"I'll find you guys later!" Lily waved back to Adrian and Jo.

"Come in," Professor Dumbledore said before they could knock. "Ah, Miss Evans, you look much better."

"I feel a lot better," Lily grinned, sneaking a glance up at James.

"Yes. How very good. I presume Mr. Potter had a chance to inform you on the offer from the Order?"

"Yes, and I want to join."

"Very good Miss Evans! Well it seems like I have no more business to discuss today. I'm sure your friends are eager to see you again. And don't forget about your classes tomorrow, Mr. Potter." Dumbledore grinned.

"Thank you sir," Lily smiled, and again let James lead her.

"Are you feeling ok?" James whispered in her ear as they made their way to the Great Hall, noticing her pace slowing.

"Fine, just a bit tired," Lily replied.

"It was a long flight," He nodded.

"Yeah, plus this is the most walking I've done in awhile." Lily bit her lip, embarrassed that the amount of walking she had done today was already exhausting.

"Let me help you with that," James grinned and picked Lily up.

"James!" Lily gasped, surprised.

Laughing all the way down the corridors, James finally let Lily down when they got to the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall. There weren't many people left in the Great Hall as they were finishing up lunch and heading to their next classes, so they found a seat easily.

"Thought we would find you here, mate." Sirius sat next to James, Remus on the opposite side of the table.

"Skipping class?" Lily raised her eyebrow.

"We were excused from classes today, to get you settled back in." Adrian slid in the seat next to Lily and Jo took a seat next to Remus.

"I'm sure she could have managed just fine with me," James crossed his arms.

"Maybe, but we couldn't just trust a marauder with our Lilykins," Jo grinned, winking at Sirius.

"I think I am more than capable of taking care of her," James rolled his eyes, but laughed and kissed the top of Lily's head.

"And I think I am capable of taking care of myself!" Lily protested.

"Of course," James laughed as she playfully hit him.

"So what are you guys supposed to do? I mean helping me get settled back in. It's not like I don't remember anything." Lily mused.

"Well it was actually an idea of Sirius' to get out of class. And we figured if the boys were going to get out of class, then we should too, so that we could be sure the boys wouldn't bother you." Adrian grinned.

"You guys," Lily shook her head. "Where's Peter?"

"We figured he wouldn't add much to the welcoming party," Sirius grunted.

"Well it's nice to see you guys again. You have no idea how boring the hospital was-" James cleared his throat, "-when of course James wasn't there." James grinned and kissed Lily lightly on the lips.

"Ugh, maybe we'll catch you later?" Adrian joked.

"Yeah, I do actually need some help with that assignment from divination. Adrian?" Jo asked.

"I'll help you. See you at dinner Lily!" Adrian and Jo waved.

James looked expectantly at Sirius and Remus.

"Hey, I have no assignments due that I haven't already done," Sirius tried to sound innocent.

"Uh huh, come on Sirius. Let's leave these two alone," Remus stood up and motioned for Sirius to follow.

"Aww, but I missed our Lilykins so much!" Sirius winked at Lily and stood up to follow Remus.

"Lily?" A voice came from behind their table before Sirius and Remus walked away.

As soon as they turned around, James was standing protectively, flanked by Remus and Sirius. Slowly Lily got up to face the figure that was now being blocked from her view.

"What the hell is this?" The voice sounded harsher, more defending.

"What do you want Adam?" Lily crossed her arms, raising her eyebrow.

"I want to know why these jokers are in my way."

"Adam Bagnold," Lily narrowed her eyes, "they are my friends, so do not speak to them like that. And in case you didn't get the hint, we are over. So unless you have something important to say, I'm leaving."

"Aw babe, don't be mad at me. I came here to talk about what happened before break."

"Did you not get our letter," Sirius flexed.

"Right, like I would believe a letter sent by you." Adam laughed.

"It was enough to keep you from her place, wasn't it?" James cocked his brow.

"I would have come anyways, but I got held up at home." Adam stopped laughing. "So babe, what do you say we go talk about this?"

"Don't you have to be getting to class?" Lily interrupted before one of the Marauders could talk again.

"I got excused from my next class," Adam winked.

"Lily is with me now, so I suggest you leave," James' tone was harsh.

"Ugh, let's just go," Lily closed her eyes, trying to will away the headache that was fast approaching. As she began to walk away, she felt a firm hand on her shoulder.

"If you want to keep that arm, I suggest you remove it now," James growled.

"What are you going to do? And Lily is not with you, she is mine," Adam snarled back.

"Adam, we are over. I am with James now," Lily began to rub her temple with one hand. Remus moved to her side and put a comforting arm around her. James and Sirius didn't relax their protective stances.

"You don't know what you are saying. Now come with me," Adam grabbed Lily's wrist.

"That's it," James and Sirius glowered; their wands out and pointed at Adam before he could blink. Adam was just as quick though, his wand out and ready.

"Stop it," Lily moaned, the headache getting worse.

"She's mine," Adam snarled again.

"Please stop," Lily gasped, collapsing into Remus.

"Lily!" James immediately forgot about Adam and was at Remus' side, picking Lily up from him.

"I suggest you leave. Now," Remus said as James was almost out of the Great Hall.

"This isn't over," Adam mumbled.

"Oh but it is. And if you dare even try to speak to Lily again, we will destroy you." Sirius showed no signs of humor.

Sure that Adam wasn't following, Remus and Sirius decided to go find James and make sure Lily was ok.


End file.
